


Back to The Beginning

by Tahkaullus01



Series: A New Beginning [1]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Canon Rewrite, F/F, Gen, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Light-Hearted, Reunion...the Long Way Round, Slow Burn, THIS is what a Doctor Who Fix-it Fic should be, Time Shenanigans, i don't do angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-10
Updated: 2018-12-08
Packaged: 2019-08-08 15:37:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 49,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16432199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tahkaullus01/pseuds/Tahkaullus01
Summary: "Doctor...I let you go."And then he was gone...and then he was back...sort of...in the wrong clothes he died in, and not the right looking TARDIS...and was the scanner saying there was Nestene activity going on in the heart of London, 2005?"Oh brilliant."





	1. Oh Brilliant

**Author's Note:**

> Before we get started, I'd like to say that this isn't just sticking Jodie Whittaker in Christopher Eccleston's place and that being that. This is the Thirteenth Doctor behaving as the Thirteenth Doctor as best as I understand her right now. That means it's the Thirteenth's behaviour, the Thirteenth's ideals, the Thirteenth's pet peeves and the Thirteenth's 1500 years worth of additional experience since Nine's days.
> 
> Wish me luck.

_"Doctor...I let you go."_

His last words burned through his mind almost as brightly as the regeneration energy that surged out of every nook, cranny and orifice of his being. Such a send off, as if he really really didn't want to put another lifetime through the same sadness and losses that he and all his other faces had suffered. Hadn't he learned anything through his time with Clara? The good came with the bad.

What was it he'd said in that body before? _"The good things don't always soften the bad things, but vice versa, the bad things don't necessarily spoil the good things or make them less important."_ Advice he'd been giving a friend that apparently he'd forgotten about somewhere down the line. When did that start? When had admiring the good things and remembering them become such a burden?

The flames licked harder against his skin, burning off the aged Scottish eyebrows and frown-wrinkles that had only gotten deeper as the life had gone by. Maybe it'd be nice to try for a bit younger this time - not baby-face floppy hair, maybe something closer to that life that started so happy and, like this latest one, ended so lonely.

_"I don't wanna go."_

Full of regrets that one, friends lost to him in one form or another - some had happy endings, one married to a normal everyday bloke, two more married to the job and each other...and one separated by a whole universe. 1500 years and change later, that parting still stung the worst, he'd hated beaches ever since.

That hatred had only grown when the mental blocks surrounding the Moment had finally dropped away and he'd seen just who it was that the weapon had chosen as the interface. A face chosen specifically for him, because it had _known -_ long before they ever met, the Moment itself had known what she would be to him. Unfortunately all this came too late for him to do a damn thing about it of course, so now all he could do was mourn a chance he'd given up.

He partially blamed River for that, but then it wasn't really her fault was it? He'd held off from telling her his name until that last day on Darillium, when they couldn't put it off any longer and she had to go on her final expedition to the Library. In doing so he closed the loop that had crushed his hope for the life had wanted in favour of the one that Time demanded of him.

Would that he could do it again...

_I don't wanna go._ Those words again. By the Other, if only thinking them could make it so... If there was a way to get back everything he'd lost he'd take it, he knew that about himself. Endings were sad, Ashildr could make it out as beautiful all she liked but it didn't change that some of them had just hurt - so much that the memory of them burned his hearts to the point he thought not even regeneration could heal them properly.

Clara and Missy had gotten it wrong; he didn't assume he was going to win, he just tried his best not to lose. Well for once, for the first time in over a millennium, he wanted to win!

_I don't want to go! And if anyone happens to be listening, and you've got any kind of problem with that...TO HELL WITH YOU!_

As if thinking these combined thoughts of two faces who died alone was some kind of trigger, the regeneration began to pick up speed. The burning intensified, stripping all sight from him so that all he could see was the golden flames...and for a moment...just for a moment...he thought he saw a flicker of _something_ just beyond it...

And then it was over, the flames died away and all the weight of his new body slammed into him, knocking him forwards before he self righted again.

Funny, he should be feeling dizzy right now. That was usually the way it went: New body, new attitudes to get used to, and a new alien problem because apparently he wasn't allowed to regenerate in peace. This time though...well, for lack of a better word, he felt _good._

_Hafta look into that._

But that was the moment the TARDIS remembered She was supposed to sweep her Time Lord off his feet as She suddenly lurched into activity, flinging the Doctor off his feet, face first, onto the grated floor (grated? Just how badly had he damaged the Old Girl this time?). Having done this now a grand total of three times, he was staggering back onto his feet in record time and stumbling back over to the console...had it always been that close of his face?

“Right then, love, what’re you in such a rush over?” Blimey was that his new voice? It was all high and light, and not Scottish anymore which he was of two minds about - on the one hand it meant he couldn’t complain about things anymore, but at least he wasn’t a bloody Estuary boy again. He sounded northern, not quite Yorkshire, and a bit too inland to be Manchester or Hull...Huddersfield! He sounded like he was from Huddersfield! Hadn’t done that before.

_No, wait, distractin’ me’self._ Focusing again on the scanner, he flipped a bunch of knobs and buttons that should have looked familiar but it seemed the TARDIS had done herself up when he wasn’t looking ‘cos none of these controls looked familiar. Well he should at least be able to get the scanner turned on…when had it gotten that small?

Shaking it off, he tried any of the odd knobs and switches trying to get it on...and when that failed he resorted to his old standby that he hadn’t used in years: hit it.

_Oh look at that!_ A mallet was right there under the console! Lucky day! Grabbing it he whacked the top a couple of times, ignoring the protestations from the ship.

“‘S not my fault!” Ooh, very high pitched. “Next time show me what does what! Now where’re we going?”

Finally, the TARDIS acquiesced and the screen blinked on, the flight plan and destination time zone written out in circular Gallifreyan. And suddenly he caught his breath. They were going  _there?_ But that was dangerous! He already had an established presence there! He couldn't go back there...what if he ran into  _her?_ He'd never be able to leave until that Big Eared moron from Manchester came down and stole her away.

"Why?" He asked up to his ship, noting the familiar column for the first time, glowing turquoise and churning away into a circular console, surrounded by six large pillars that reached into the ceiling and dipped down deep into the storage space beneath the grating (wait, how did he know that? No, never mind, destination problems first). "Why're you going there? I can't interact with my past, you  _know_ I can't!"

A blipping on the scanner turned his attention back to the too small scanner and again he grunted in frustration. "Nestene activity in London. Yes I know! I already took care of this, you senile- ouch! Oi!"

She'd sparked him! The ruddy old ship had shocked him for trying to prevent a paradox! That last regeneration really had to have fried something this time! Growling in annoyance, he tried to work the strangely familiar-but-not-familiar console again which only upped his vexation as the long sleeves of his leather jacket got in the way. He was five milliseconds into tossing the thing off and rolling up his sleeves when his brain caught up with him...leather jacket? When did he put that on?

And now he finally had a proper look at his clothes...when did he put that waistcoat on? Victorian by the look of it, not something his last self would have looked out of place in but certainly not what he'd regenerated in...and this leather, black, battered and beaten...he knew this outfit...long time since he'd worn it but...But now he was looking around the TARDIS properly as well. The familiar-but-not feeling...because he  _did_ know this look...he just hadn't seen it for a  _very_ long time.

_"You've let this place go a bit."_

_"It's his grunge phase. Don't worry, he grows out of it."_

_"What's this then? Coral?! It's worse than the leopard skin!"_

"What the bleedin' 'ell is going on, here?!" By Omega, he sounded like Jackie Tyler. The universe really must be ending.

Another shake kept him from looking into it and he grabbed hold of the old console again, the TARDIS flinging and falling through the Vortex to a place he certainly shouldn't be going to a crisis that he had already dealt with once before. Something was really,  _really_ wrong.

At last the landing cycle began, the tell tale  _Vwoorp-Vwoorp_ droning in his ears that he loved so much no matter what River said, followed up by the satisfactory  _Thud_ signifying that they'd arrived somewhere new. Except this time nothing was new. He knew exactly where he was, which city he'd landed in, what day it was, what year it was, even the exact alley She'd parked Herself in. How could he ever forget? This was the day he started getting better.

_And the last place I should be!_ Frustration mixed with sadness got him focussed on the console and he started working the controls, the memories of how to work this one slowly coming back. The wheel for time travel, the pump was the Helmic Regulator, that knob for takeoff and...nothing. The TARDIS shuddered a bit and that was it, She hadn't even budged a little bit.

"Alright this has stopped being funny now!" He shouted up at Her. "I  _can't_ be here! Lord-of-the-Ears is gonna be here any second, which means I  _have to go!"_

The TARDIS only responded with a small  _ping!_ on the scanner, highlighting where the strongest signal of Nestene activity was emanating from. As if he needed to look at it: Hendrik's, just a stone's throw away. 

"I  _know!"_ He said again, gods he was going to wear his voice out and he'd only just gotten it. "But he'll take care of it! He'll build a bomb, go in there, and blow them up! I've  _done this already! Now please, let me go!"_

Again, the Old Girl just ignored his pleas and opened one of the hatches by his feet. A moment later something came shooting out from the depths right into his face, which he instinctively reared back from, arms leaping forwards to catch what had been coughed out of storage. A quick inspection of the device told him all he needed to know - digital clock not yet set, small yield proton pack, wires connected them together and all of it wrapped up in parcel-tape - an exact replica of the bomb he'd used the first time. What, in all the actual  _hells,_ was She doing?!

Bad enough the TARDIS seemed to have lost the plot about timestreams, what if he ran into  _her_ whilst he was busy blasting a hole in the universe? How would he be able to handle that? But She just dinged an insistent ding again on the scanner, backing it up with urgent flashing lights from the Hexagonal Things on Her walls (ooh, terrible name that, Hexagonal Things, he'd have to do something about that), and flung Her doors wide open to admit all the sound and bustle of early Twenty-First Century London, England, Earth. 

"I'm not doing it! I'm not!"

_"Wilson?"_

No...no that wasn't fair.

_"Wilson, I've got the lottery money! Wilson."_

She was down there right now...and by the Other it took everything he had not to look at the image on the scanner that his blasted ship had keyed into. How dare She? How  _dare_ she do this to him?! What was he supposed to do, steal her away before his past self arrived? Everything would fracture. And yet  _still_ the TARDIS was ushering him out the door.

_"Look I can't hang around, 'cos they're closin' the shop."_

Any minute now Baldy Big Ears would be here...so what was taking him so long? Unbidden, he glanced over at the open doors...he couldn't, he really couldn't! 

A rustle on the scanner, followed by a small collapse of something, had the subject of Her observation turning to face the noise.  _"Hello? Hello Wilson it's-"_

"Fine!" He finally shouted, marching over and shutting the blasted thing off. "Fine! I'm going! But don't think for a second we're done here!"

The only response She gave him was a pleased hum, like a parent smugly satisfied that they'd gotten their errant kid to do what they wanted. He merely huffed and marched down the grated pathway, stopping along the way to glare at the jacket he was wearing - ruddy thing was swamping him - and chucked it away. He kept the waistcoat though - this was London, no one would thing anything of it - and stuffed the bomb inside of it...which was a surprisingly tight squeeze but he was still too annoyed to think about it and marched out of his meddling ship.

London was as ignorant as ever, yes he got the odd look from one or two passers by but a good glare sent them running - nice to see he'd kept that - as he made his way to the Hendrik's store, found the back way in and got into the staff-only lift. Every logical nerve told him to press the up button, just plant the stupid thing and get out again. No muss, no fuss...and yet...his eye lingered on the basement level...

He really shouldn't, it was far too dangerous. What if he ran into himself? That'd slow things down maybe too much and then  _she_ would be dead and it would be all his fault. 

_Just go to the roof. Go to the roof and get it over with..._ Common sense, yes, listen to common sense.

He immediately pressed the basement button. 

_Oh, this is so stupid! Why am I doing this? It'll only hurt._

But he arrived on the basement level none the less and, as if on automatic pilot, made his way down the corridors to the storage room where he would see what he still remembered even now. Pushing the door open quietly, he entered the room and watched from a distance. 

There she was, backing up away from the Autons. So very young, looking around with just the start of panic entering her eyes.

"Right I've got the joke! Who's idea was this?"

The Autons remained silent as they marched forward in their sluggish manner. Rassilon, it never occurred to him before but they were in real bad shape - they hadn't looked this bad at Stonehenge had they? _Never mind, not important, Big Ears should be here soon._

Masking his presence as best he could, he waited...and waited...

"Who is it? Is it Derek? Derek is this you?!"

He should've been here by now. What was taking him? First time round he'd been down here looking into just how far they had spread and then he'd heard her blunder in. He should be able to make out that stupid leather jacket slipping through the stacks...so where was he?

She'd backed away from them as far as she could, hitting the wall behind her as the Autons continued to box her in. Witnesses couldn't be afforded and so they had to get rid of her right now. The lead dummy approached her, lifting its arm up in preparation to strike.

_WHERE IS HE?!_

She closed her eyes, screwing them up in preparation for the pain...

And suddenly he was rushing forwards. Reason and common sense took a back burner as he silently hurried over to her. This was so, so wrong! 

But then he grabbed her hand, watched as she turned in shock to face him, those beautiful young brown eyes meeting his in surprise and suddenly all the wrongness of it vanished. He had his hand in hers again after so long...and there was only one word that came to mind. 

"Run!"

And then they were running for their lives, hand in hand, like so many times before, and it felt so  _right._ Gods it  _hurt._

_Oh Big Ears is going to get a piece of my mind when I find him! Late to his own bloody party!_

For now though he just focused on getting her out of danger, running back down the corridors he'd just come, dragging her along with danger barely a step behind. Why, oh  _why,_ had the TARDIS done this to him? _Never mind. Lift right up ahead._ _Get her inside, rip the Old Girl a new one later._

Sure enough the lift was still waiting and he came around, shoving her inside as the nearest Auton stuck its arm inside the lift just as the doors came closed. Seeing the same old script playing out, he grabbed hold of the arm and gave it a couple of good tugs. For the first few pulls there was nothing, another and he felt the arm loosen, and then finally the whole thing came off, the doors slamming shut right in front of him.

_Well, at least I have something to smack Manchester with._

"You pulled 'is arm off." The panic-filled shock behind him reminded him of his companion -  _No, not mine, his...or she should be._

"Nothin' to worry about." He replied, going for levity but absolutely refusing to turn around. Better if they kept their interaction as minimal as possible, but he still tossed the arm to her which he heard her catch much the same way he'd caught the bomb. "See? Just plastic."

 "Yeah, very clever, nice trick!" She said, breathing hard from their short jog - eh, give her time, a Slitheen or two and she'd be in good shape for fleeing Daleks. "Who were they, then, students? Is this a student thing?"

"Might'a been." He muttered, trying his best not to engage. 

"Okay." 

Well that wasn't right. Why was she just going along with that cover story? Frowning, he glanced back at her but did his best not to actually look. "Why d'you think they're students?"

"...I dunno." 

Well that wouldn't do, he needed her to think about it. She wouldn't get his past self's attention if she didn't "Well you brought it up, why students?"

"Well..." she was quiet for a moment, getting the argument in her head, and then answered. "To get that many people, dressed up 'n muckin' about, they've gotta be students."

He couldn't help snorting at that. "You shoulda seen my student days." He muttered, memories of the Academy running through his brain, by Rassilon he'd been so much trouble. How Borusa ever put up with him...well, better not to think about that.

"Yeah well, whatever kind of game you're pulling," she told him, a hint of warning in her tone "when Wilson finds them he's gonna call the police."

"Who's Wilson?" He'd heard her throwing that name around, so it probably meant something, but bother if he couldn't remember who that was. 

"Chief Electrician."

"Ah." Probably dead then. Best if he didn't bring it up, sounded like she'd had just about enough.

"What's that mean?" She asked, catching his hedge. "Is he alright?" 

Staying quiet didn't do any good and he soon heard her stepping up behind him. "Did you do something to him? What happened?" 

He kept silent, they'd interacted far too much as it was, But if anything it just upped her temper as she snapped at him. "Tell me, you bloody bint, what'd you do to him?!"

Wait, hang on, what was that? Frowning, he came around to face her at last, his curiosity overriding his self preservation and he looked her full on. "What did you call me?"

"What, you don't like that?" She snapped back, glaring at him with all the power of one of her mother's slaps. "Pretty thin skin. And what's that you're wearin'?"

"No wait, go back. You called me a bint."

"Yeah, and?"

"'Bint.' English slang for a female whore, synonymous with 'bitch.'" His frown only grew as he worked with what information she'd given him...the results he came to were odd. "Why're you using woman-oriented insults?"

"Does'at matter?" She asked back, glare not letting up a bit. "What'd you do to Wilson?!"

"No, this matters, why're you insulting me like I'm a woman?"

"'Cos you are a woman, you nutter!"

"Am I?" Well that explained a couple of things, the high voice for starters. Ooh, and why he felt so top heavy, the bomb was pressing against something that he’d never had before: teats! He had teats for the first time ever! Suddenly the issue with plastic and timelines became irrelevant as he - no wait, _she_ \- asked that all important question:

“Does it suit me?”

“What?”

The change in topic threw her, the other more important her not her her (oh wow, that was going to get confusing), and that gave the newly christened her a moment to herself to think over this newest look. A female body...well if Koschei could bend that way why not him - her - too?

Further introspection was cut off as the lift dinged, reminding her of the current situation and she quickly grabbed _her_ (yes, that’d keep things simple, think in italics) hand and pulled her out.

“Oi, I’ve ‘ad enough of this now!” _She_ snapped, decidedly not appreciating being dragged along like that - well she never had, preferred to wander off on her own accord.

But she already had her back to _her_ and was looking over the lift. The Autons would be making their way back up, she needed time to get back to the roof, and this thing would give them an easy escape. Too bad for them she had her… Oh dear.

“No sonic.” She...well the previous he, had always kept his sonic in his jacket which she’d left in the TARDIS. Well maybe he’d put it in his trousers. Nope. “Empty pockets...arrgh! I hate empty pockets! Never mind, I can still hotwire it...probably.”

Glancing back at _her,_ she quickly instructed her to shield her eyes and then ripped off the call button, exposing the wires and circuitry. With no clear plan in mind save stall for time, she grabbed a few at random and pulled them clean out. There was a burst of sparks and  the lights from the buttons blinked out.

“The hell’re you doin’?!” _She_ demanded behind her. “Bad enough you were muckin’ about down there, you’re gonna have to pay for that!”

“No cash.” She replied and then started running off, trusting that _she_ would follow.

And _she_ did, frustration now replaced with that tone of fed-up-with-this...ness. “Who’re you then? An’ what’s those things down there? I said what are they?!”

“Not students, for starters.” Oh she really shouldn’t be explaining all this stuff, it wasn’t her place to say...but if Nine wasn’t going to make an appearance then she really couldn’t be held accountable for his screw ups.

“They’re called Autons - living plastic.” She went on to explain as she led _her_ to the back exit. “I picked up their activity a little while ago and was scoping it out. Looks like they’re being controlled by a relay dish on top of this building, which’d be a problem if…” And she pulled her bomb out from her waistcoat’s pocket, relieving the pressure on her chest (oh she’d have to do something about that), and waggled it in front of _her_ face. “I didn’t have this here.”

There it was, the back door which she opened with a complete lack of fanfair which Big Ears would have been proud of. “So, I’m going to go upstairs and blow it up. Ah don’t worry about me, I’ve survived worse. You just go on home. Go get yourself something to eat and just enjoy the night.”

So saying, she shoved _her_ out the door and would have been happy if that was how the night would’ve ended. _She_ wasn’t the only one completely fed up with this situation, but it was the absentee figure who was drawing her ire right now. He’d better be there tomorrow.

Maybe it was that, or maybe she just wanted to look at her face one more time, but she fixed _her_ with what she hoped was a firm stare (new face, who knew how silly it looked?). “One last thing, if a tall idiot with stupid ears and a leather coat comes knockin’ around, you tell him the Doctor would like a word with him.”

And before _she_ could ask any questions as to what that meant, she shut the door. Good, that was enough, bit of a mystery but it should pique that Northern moron’s curiosity. It worked with Clara after all… but _she_ wasn’t Clara, she was far more jeopardy friendly than Clara and that was saying something. And she was quick, fast, clever, compassionate, _beautiful_ and suddenly she was turning back and opening the door again where _she_ was still standing with a bemused expression.

“That’s me by the way, I’m the Doctor. And what’s your name?”

“Rose.” She replied (no need for italics now, she’d be torturing herself with that name for a century).

Hiding the bittersweet feelings that name always brought her behind an easy smile, she nodded in recognition. “Good to see you again, Rose. Now,” she waggled the bomb in her face again, “run for your life.”

Then she slammed the door again and ran for all of her worth away from it before she wrenched it open and dragged her Rose all the way to the TARDIS and never let her go again.

* * *

One spectacular explosion of an entire building and rendering Rose jobless later, the Doctor was back in her TARDIS and glaring the Old Girl down with as much disapproval as her five-point-four-eight(rounded up)-foot stature would allow. She'd mutter about the height later but right now her ship needed a good scolding.

"So, care to explain yourself?" Wow, that was matronly...good, meant she could tell people off good and proper, Rassilon knew she'd been on the receiving end enough times to know how to dish it out.

The one doing the receiving however was feigning ignorance, letting out an innocent buzz as if it didn't know at all just how much trouble She'd just put them both in. 

"Oh don't give me that!" The Doctor retorted, hands on hips. "You changed my timeline! Now I might never meet her properly! I get that you miss her, I do too! I miss her every day, but that doesn't mean we can step in all willy nilly and change the past. And while we're on that, why'd you change my clothes?"

She just sent another innocent ping back at her before bringing the scanner around and turning it on, showing Rose as she made her way back to the Powell Estate, plastic arm in hand. 

"No. No. Not doin' it. Done too much already." So saying, the Doctor marched up the grating (ugh, terrible, what had She been thinking when She chose this layout?) and tried to get them going again. The TARDIS juddered once, twice...and finally the central column began to rise and fall, the  _Vwoorp-Vwoorp_ signifying their successful takeoff...and then not a moment later the engines began the landing cycle again.

"Stop it!" She snapped at Her, running around and trying to abort the landing to no avail, pointedly ignoring the image of the Powell Estate on the screen. "Just stop it!”

Oh no. Tears. This body did tears. She could feel them already starting to well up her ducts. Well could anyone blame her? The TARDIS was torturing her with a temptation she could never give in to. Why?

Her answer came in a soothing hum and the image on the scanner finally changing to something non-Rose centric, but still it made no sense because now she was looking at footage from within the console room. Nothing too weird about that, but it was the figure standing there that didn’t add up: The War Doctor, Captain Grumpy, inspecting his hands that were glowing gold in that tell-tale way - he must only be seconds away from regenerating.

But why? What was the point of that? And then all her answers were given at once.

The War Doctor exploded into light, vanishing behind a cloud of regeneration energy...and went it ended, there he stood. Or, rather, there _she_ stood. Where there should have been a crop-haired, big-nosed, big-eared, Northern cross man, there instead was a short, blonde haired woman who could have passed for early-to-mid thirties on Earth.

“But...that can’t be right…” Disbelief filled every word as the Doctor rewound and rewatched the footage again and again. “That _can’t be right._ Regeneration doesn’t work like that!”

But there it was, over and over again. The same thing on the screen, the War Doctor disappeared and she took his place.

_This has to be a trick...or a dream state._ But a cursory inspection of the surroundings and hunt for the usual tells - fractal patterns and the like - came up with nothing. For all intents and purposes she was wide awake, standing in a thousand year younger TARDIS, inhabiting an equally younger body.

All evidence seemed to conclude that this was real.

But if it was real then…

“Rose!”

Responding to her word as if it were a command from on high, the scanner switched back to the Powell Estate. There was a plastic hand scrambling around there somewhere, waiting for the chance to get at her and willing to use Rose as bait to do it.

It galled her to do it, but the Doctor kept herself from running out there and just dealing with the problem now. Selfish as it was, she wanted Rose to see her take care of it and for that to happen she and the arm needed to corner each other in the Tyler flat.

_O’course to do that, I need my…_ No sooner had she thought it, a section of the console slotted open and a small streamlined silver object was pushed out. Trust the Old Girl to think of everything. Feeling good things about her ship for the first time since she’d regenerated, the Doctor took the old-but-new sonic screwdriver and patted the console affectionately. “Cheers, love.”

A quick test of the old tool later though, she was already finding problems with it: for starters it used settings instead of a psychic interface and it was still running the calculations needed to freeze Gallifrey, no point risking that, but also it just didn't feel right in her hand. This screwdriver was for a completely different Doctor, a him rather than a her.

_Still, beggars an' all that._ She'd have to make do for now. Sticking the sonic in her pocket and fishing the psychic paper out of Grumpy's jacket, she pushed the TARDIS ahead a few hours till morning. 

At half-past seven, March twenty-sixth, 2005, the Doctor stepped out onto a street just a short walk away from the Powell Estate and began, what she hoped would be, the reclamation of her lost family.


	2. Making a House Call

The signal grew stronger as she walked through the familiar courtyard, strong but not enough to think that it was still down here. Good, she didn't relish the idea of having to herd it up to Jackie's flat. Just thinking about it made the Doctor want to run up there now to see them again but she reined it in. This had to go right or she'd never get Rose's interest. For once she was going to have to be patient, which this body seemed to be strangely alright with. Was that because she was a woman now or because of her age? Could be either, she supposed and left it at that as she made her way up the stairwell.

The more she climbed this old familiar route, the stronger the signal became until she reached the right floor. Nestene activity dead ahead and, more importantly, a reunion she'd only ever dreamed of having granted.

_Alright. Deep breath, Doctor._ Doing just that, she made her way down the path barely even looking at the sonic's readings as she reverently traced the path Rose had dragged an uncomfortable Northern fool and an insecure Estuary idiot any number of times before. Not this time, no more getting it wrong. Another deep breath and finally she stood in front of the door.

What should she say? Go for gruff? Worked last time, but this body didn't really think it liked that approach. Flaunt the foxy? Nah, Rose had enough problems as it was with Pinstripes looking everywhere but her, bloody martyr complex that one.  _Suppose I should knock and see what happens._

"Mum! You're such a liar!" Her voice on the other side stopped her flat, Rose making her way to the door of her own accord - hadn't planned for that. "I told you to nail that flap down, we're gonna get strays!"

"I did that weeks back!"

"Nah, you thought about it!"

She was right there. On the other side of a few centimetres thick wood, Rose was right there.

_Alright, don't panic! Just knock, she'll open the door and then...and then...what then?!_ Was she hyperventilating? She had a respiratory bypass, how was that even possible? Alright, so not hyperventilating, just very, very scared.

The cat flap at her feet suddenly flipped up a little bit before dropping back down, the barest hint of a finger popping through before it disappeared behind the little piece of plastic, and suddenly the Doctor was on her knees and flicking the flap back the other way. It would break the ice at least...she hoped.

_Come on, Rose, be that curious little pink and yellow human I remember you being._

And sure enough, a moment later, a tentative little finger pushed at the flap again before the whole thing lifted up and the Doctor was looking into those inquiring brown eyes she'd missed so much. The questioning look vanished a millisecond later, replaced by surprise, before the flap dropped back down. A moment later the door was pulled open and Rose herself was looking down at her where she was still kneeling on the floor.

"Um..." Crud, she couldn't think of a thing to say. Going for a tentative smile, she waved up at her shyly. "Hi. Again."

"What're you doin' here?" Ooh, straight to the point. Rose wasn't a morning person, she'd forgotten that.

But she couldn't really answer because she really didn't know what to say...although maybe she should get up first? Yeah probably a good idea to start there and so the Doctor sprang back on to her feet. And she still didn't have a thing to say.  _Okay, this is the part where you say things, Doctor. Preferably not rude things._

"So...um..." Think, think, think! Two thousand years of experience in  _everything,_ she should be able to find something to say! The sonic's insistent buzzing in her hand finally gave her something to go with though and she latched onto it. "See anything plastic lately?"

_NO! Stupid! Stupid Doctor!_

"Who's that at the door?"

Saved by Jackie Tyler! Rose reacted to the question by grabbing her arm, dragging her inside, and slamming the door shut. The Doctor could have kissed the woman for it.

"It's about last night." She told her mum through the door to her left, barely stopping as she made her way back inside. "She's part of the inquiry, just give us a few minutes."

"Oh, a 'she' is it?" Jackie asked, sounding genuinely impressed as the Doctor stopped just outside her door, taking it all in. "Bout time. Good on you, love. That council's been full of them bullheaded idiots for donkey's years. You show 'em what for."

"Er..." Well that was new, Rose's mum actually giving her a pep talk, never had one of those before. What was the right protocol for that?

The mum in question noticed her staring and lack of words and looked down at herself before gasping. "Oh, 'eck, look at me in my dressing gown. Gimme two minutes and we can talk about it all. My Rose nearly got killed in that blast! You make sure she tells you everything! She deserves compensation!"

"Right! Yes. Compensation. I can do that..." Could she? Maybe. Big Ears had never even thought about it really, just assumed he'd be in and out and no one would ever see him again. Oh, how wonderfully wrong he'd been about that. Still, that gave her an opening and she quickly hurried into the living room before Jackie could really get started up - could talk for England if given a chance.

"Don't mind the mess," Rose called out as she made her way to the kitchen, "you want a coffee?"

"I dunno yet." The Doctor admitted, this new tongue hadn't had a chance to work out what it liked yet so probably best not to chance it. "How 'bout we stick to tea for now, I've always liked tea."

Rose just 'hmm'd' and put the kettle on, not giving her a second look save to say over her shoulder "We should go to the police..."

But the Doctor had already started looking around the small flat, taking it all in. The last time she'd been here was as the Pin Striped noble Idiot, brokenhearted twice over and living like a hermit with only a cat for company. Blimey but he'd been a mess. He'd snapped out of it eventually, but only when all the scents of the people who lived here had died away leaving just him. Now there was light and clear signs of more than one person living here. A book half-read with a sad ending, a magazine on one of the bean bags with a new pop-pairing between a gay chap and an alien girl - ooh, mail! An envelope addressed to Rose herself which she took up reading the name aloud.

"Rose Tyler." Lovely, the name still rolled off the tongue as wonderfully as it ever had, maybe as nicely as it had when she'd been a he and first read her name and - was that a mirror?

Finally a chance to get a good look at herself, Rose wasn't going anywhere (still going on about their explosive meeting last night...ooh no, terrible line, never using that). Tossing the envelope aside, the Doctor turned her attention to her new face.

"Preliminary assessment: Very nice." Hazel eyes, blonde hair that stopped above her neck - ooh, adorable nostril flaring when she pulled a scrunchy face, hadn't Sandshoes done that as well?.

"Shame about the height though..." This had to be Eyebrows' fault, what had he been thinking giving Davros all that regeneration energy? She looked like she'd raided her dad's wardrobe now, these clothes had to be at least two or three sizes too big. And then there were the teats which she experimentally pressed through her shirt, what was she going to do about those? Functionally she got it, sustenance provision for infants, but blimey if they weren't a bit inconvenient the rest of the time. "'least they're not massive."

"-said they found a body." Rose's words called her back to the present, another life she'd failed to save.  _Sorry Wilson, again._ Was it selfish that she didn't feel worse about that? Probably, but never in any of her incarnations had she ever claimed to be perfect.

A scrabbling behind her caught her attention and she glanced over at the settee. Took it long enough. "You got a cat?"

"No." Rose replied, still focussed on the tea, "We did have but now all we get're strays off the estate."

"Hmm, should probably get a man in about tha-" Was as far as the Doctor got before the arm launched out from behind the sofa and wrapped its hand around her throat. There had been a plan to hold back some extra air with her respiratory bypass, but her nostalgic wanderings had left her distracted. As such now it was all she could do to keep herself from falling onto the coffee table.

Struggling to her feet, the Doctor just managed to fall back onto the settee, still wrestling with the arm as Rose came back into the living room with her tea. She took one look at her and rolled her eyes at her. "I told Mickey to throw that thing out. Seriously, what is it with people and plastic hands?"

_Help...Rose help!_ Breathing was getting harder, had the arm been this strong last time? Or was her neck just weaker?

"Anyway, I don' even know your name. Doctor...what was it?"

There! At the uttering of her name the arm momentarily halted and the Doctor took her chance, prying hand from her neck and throwing it away from her. Her instinctive act however threw the arm in Rose's direction, where it turned mid-flight and wrapped itself around her face. For a moment the Doctor sat there stunned, still catching her breath, then she heard Rose's muffled scream and rushed over to help her. Pulling at it did very little and, after few tugs back and forth, the pair of them went crashing down onto the coffee table shattering it with their combined weight.

_Sonic, sonic, where's the flippin' sonic?!_ She didn't dare let go of the thing but at the same time she couldn't get it off Rose if she didn't have her screwdriver. Floundering, she reached down for the trouser pocket she'd stuck it in, which gave the hand a chance to get a firmer grip on Rose's face, causing her to let out another pained cry.

_Crud, crud, crud!_ _Yes!_ She finally got the sonic out of her pocket and pressed the tip against the plastic fingers gouging into Rose's temples. The signal from the Nestene Consciousness was temporarily cut off, not enough to stop it but still enough for the Doctor to wrench it away from Rose and hold it away from her. Fiddling with the settings - she  _really_ needed to upgrade to psychic interface - she found the right one and shoved the tip against the palm. A second or two of buzzing passed, and then the arm froze up, dead.

The danger over, the Doctor let out a relieved breath and smiled down at Rose who was still sucking in air and staring at the plastic dummy arm that shouldn't have been able to do all it had done. So young...and she was wearing a pair of those ridiculous hoops in her ears. Funny, the things you forget as you grow older.

"You okay?"

"Wha...what was...? How did that...?"

"It's okay." The Doctor held the arm close to her face, to which she immediately flinched away from in case it came alive again. "I cut off the signal. It's just a lump of plastic again."

"Yeah?" She asked, still watching it suspiciously for a moment and then grunted a little as she tried to sit up. "You mind gettin' off me?"

_Eh?_ Oh, yes. Looking down at their position, the Doctor noticed that she was practically sitting on her, poor girl must've been having trouble to breathe what with those two big orbs crushing her chest. Seriously, why had none of her companions ever mentioned these things before?

"Sorry." Hurriedly, she jumped back onto her feet and pulled Rose back onto hers with her free hand. "Come on! Lots to do!"

And then she was off again, rushing out of the flat without so much as a goodbye to Jackie - no way was she explaining the broken table. She was halfway along the path back to the stairs when she heard Rose come out the door and hurry after her.

"Wait - hang on!" She called out. "You can't just come in 'ere, do all that, and then just swan off!"

"Can't I?" When had that become a rule? "I've been doing it for years and no one's complained."

"But that thing - that arm was movin' around!" Rose protested, catching up with her as they started down the stairs to the ground level. "It tried to kill me!"

"Yeah, sorry about that." The Doctor apologised over her shoulder. "Rather hoped I'd get it before any drama happened. You sure you're alright?"

"You can just walk away though!" She snapped over the apology, going straight for the less important matter held in the Doctor's hand. "You've gotta tell me what's goin' on!"

And she would! Where did Rose think she was leading her? Once they got to the TARDIS she could explain everything - or nearly everything, still not sure how a regeneration could send her back down her own timestream but she'd figure that out later - then they could work out a way to stop the Autons that was very flash and clever, and then go for chips. Simple.

"Alright then." Rose broke into her thoughts as the exited the building (when did that happen? Hadn't they been on the stairwell?), taking her silence for a refusal it seemed. Did she do that before? Hard to tell, be fun to find out. Anyway, she nodded in apparent acceptance of being left in the dark before casually tossing out. "I'll go to the police, tell 'em everythin'. What was that you said yesterday? Some big Northern bloke with big ears? I'll go find him too, tell him what I saw. So, your choice. Tell me or I'll start talkin'."

Oh Rose, brave Rose, trying to sound tough Rose. She could do all that if she really wanted, but then the Doctor rounded on her, a small challenging smile of her own donning her face, stopping their casual walk through the courtyard and asked her "What'll you tell 'em?"

"The truth."

Oh, very self assured. "Which is?"

"Well, that you blew my job up for one thing." And smug. Rose did smug, had she always done smug?

"And why did I do that?"

"Well...you needed to stop an...army of shop window dummies from..." And there it was, the lights turning on as to just how  _ridiculous_ her story would sound to anyone who didn't know just how big and amazing and insane the universe could be...and with this being the turn of the Twenty-First Century (by Roman standard) that accounted for about ninety-nine-point-nine (recurring) percent of the human race.

"Come on." The Doctor closed that conversation and started off again with Rose, not to be outdone, hurrying after her.

Of course where one chat ended, humans inevitably found something else to chinwag about. "Who are you?"

_Someone who has missed you very much._ Out loud she said. "The Doctor."

"Yeah but, Doctor what?"

Oh, now wasn't that refreshing? Honestly she couldn't remember the last time she-as-a-he had introduced himself only for the other person to ask 'Doctor Who?'

"Just the Doctor." She replied happily, revelling in the anonymity, waving cheerfully at Rose as she did so. "Hi."

"The Doctor." Oh, not very impressed at all, going by that repetition. Never had been easy to amaze her, the Doctor remembered that. A memory which was compounded on when Rose snorted and went on. "So'm I s'posed to shake your hand now and be on my merry way?"

"If you like." She shrugged, hiding the churning fear that that would be exactly what she would do. This Rose hadn't travelled with her yet, hadn't seen the universe, she could just leave it at that and go home.

But she didn't, in typical Rose Tyler fashion she continued to trail after the Doctor as they left the courtyard behind and started down a small narrow path. "C'mon now, I've seen enough already. Are you really not police?"

_Ugh, sometimes I wonder._ Maybe she ought to get a badge, she'd worn badges before as a he, a nice big badge: 'The Doctor. Time Police.' And then she immediately scrunched up her nose in disgust, that was a terrible title, even worse on a badge. "No."

No badge. Awful things anyway.

Instead she went for the honest answer. "I was just passing through, saw something that needed fixing."

"But wait, what 'ave I done wrong?" Rose pressed on, pointing at the still arm in her hand. "How come those things keep comin' after me?"

"They weren't." At her disbelieving stare, the Doctor insisted further, "They really weren't. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"It tried to kill me!"

"Only after you saw what they were." She pointed out, waggling the arm in front of her again. "Last night, in the shop, you saw them come to life and they panicked. Poor things're running scared for their lives. Now this morning, I was looking for it, it was looking for me, and you got in between. Only reason you're in danger is 'cos you met me."

Rose waited for her to finish her explanation before giving a typical Tyler response to that, "So, what? The whole world revolves around you or somethin'?"

Well if she put it like that, "Sometimes, yeah."

And now she snorted out a laugh at her. "Bloody 'ell, you're full of it!"

"Can be, yeah!" Oh this was good, banter. She still liked banter, wonderful!

Laugh over with, Rose got back to asking questions. "So, who else knows about this whole plastic thing?"

Her first response was to say no one but that wasn't necessarily true. "Well there's a few people who could tackle it, I suppose, but nobody who can get out here in a hurry." And without Kate running UNIT in this time zone, she wasn't ready to trust that lot anyway.

The Doctor's admission brought Rose up short and she lost a bit of ground before picking up her pace again. "What, you're on your own in this?"

"Not by choice." She said sadly, noting a playground and swings that Big Hair had tried to suppress all memory of after Canary Wharf. "I had a couple of friends before, all gone now though."

"Can't they help?"

"Not yet." Bill couldn't be more than nine years old at this point and Clara would still be a student. Anyone else from this time zone just wouldn't do either. And besides, the Doctor noted with a small smile, she had all the help she needed right next to her.

"Okay then." Said help...said, taking the arm from her but not her gaze. "Start from the beginning."

Ignoring the irony of that statement, the Doctor grinned at Rose and did just that. "Alright then, let's start with that arm. It's just a bit of moulded plastic right now, but if the Nestene Consciousness - the creature that's running this show - sends out a signal, it'll come right back to life."

"So's that what you did?" Rose asked, eyes suddenly back on the arm she was so casually swinging around just in case it wanted to go another round. "You cut off the signal and it just...died?"

"More like it was never alive." The Doctor corrected, though she was still impressed. Rose was as quick on the uptake as she remembered.

"So that's radio control?"

" _Thought_ control. Far more powerful and much more complicated."

"And the dummies, you called them Ortons?"

"Autons." She quickly corrected, "They're the footsoldiers, disposable troops that the Consciousness can animate at will."

"But what's it all for?" And there it was, the big question that needed answering. Rose had a habit of finding those, and puzzling them over. "Shop window dummies...is someone tryin' to take over Britain's shops?"

"What, Britain still has its own shops?" That got a scoff out of both of them, Rose should be so lucky that she didn't stick around for the disaster that was Brexit. The nation had tanked over that for years. "So we can rule out price wars as well."

This time they both laughed, despite the looming threat on the horizon. A threat that the Doctor now brought back to the fore. "The Consciousness wants to overthrow the human race and use the planet for its own ends." Glancing over at Rose, she saw she had a captive audience in those shocked eyes. "Believe me?"

"No."

"Are you sure?" She was still listening after all, trying to see if this was just a big wind up. Good, sceptical would keep her safe when things got weird, would make her question things, look for answers besides the obvious.

"'S just...the way you're talkin'..." Rose finally replied, her old life battling with this new knowledge in that way that almost all of the Doctor's family did when they were first confronted with the big picture, "You're makin' it sound like they're from another planet."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Nothin'" she quickly protested, still looking a bit dazed, "'s just…"

And she gave the Doctor with such an inquisitive expression that the Doctor herself started to wonder if she'd guessed that she wasn't exactly indigenous to Earth either. But then the moment passed and she was back to bewildered confusion. "Who are you, Doctor? Really?"

There it was, the big question that once she-as-a-he would have had not trouble answering. Yes the one he'd given had been designed to make her go away (not that it worked, clever little Rose) but it had still been an answer, now it was a whole new game. But she had to say something and so she turned to properly look at Rose.

"I'm new." She finally went with, every cell in her body thrilling at that admittance because it scared her in all the right ways. "Your whole life, you've thought you've known what the world held in store and now you find out that there's so much more to it."

Unable to help herself she slipped her left hand into Rose's free right. "All these new things you don't know, all coming at you at once. New rules, new faces, a whole new universe of possibilities. It's amazing...and terrifying..."

For a moment she paused, noting for the first time that she and Rose were now about the same height, give or take half an inch or so, and saw the awe in her young face. She was amazing her with every word and they hadn't even left the planet yet. But there was also fear in those eyes as a stranger outlined just how crazy the universe really was, and in that moment the Doctor suddenly realised she was about to make a horrible mistake.

"Sorry." Quickly she let go of Rose's hand again, her hearts screaming at the loss of contact, but she merely offered her a little apologetic smile. "Got a bit deep there. Go on home for now. I'll take care of this."

And so saying, she snagged the arm out of Rose's hand and hurried down the rest of the pathway to where the TARDIS was waiting, not daring to look back lest she see her still following. Opening the doors to her ship, she made her way over to the console and stuck the arm into a set of cables the Old Girl had left her. As soon as that was done, she dropped the focussed look and hunched down on the console.

That had been so  _hard._ The drive to tell her everything had been there on the tip of her tongue, but that could ruin everything. Rose had to come to them of her own free will, had to travel because she wanted to, not because she helped out one time and the Doctor wanted to say thank you.  _Typical._ She couldn't help thinking.  _I get a body that doesn't like to lie and I get thrown into a position where I have to._

Well nothing else for it, she just had to hope her mystery girl act was enough for Rose to start making a few inquiries on her own. A scared part of her wanted to hack into the web and track down people doing searches of her in this area, just to make sure Rose was looking into her a bit more, but the Doctor held off...barely. She'd have to trust her.

Besides, it gave her time to come up with a new plan of approach regarding the Nestene Consciousness itself. Anti-plastic was off the table this time, something about this body really abhorred the idea of using a lethal substance like that. Maybe she could talk it down.

There was just one problem with that plan though: She'd completely forgotten where it was hiding.


	3. For all Things that Change...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ...some stay the bloody same.

_Argh!_ Annoyance set in as the Doctor tried to remember how Big Ears and Rose had found the Consciousness the first time. That was the trouble with being over two thousand years old, small stuff like how she had actually done things slipped away as time went on. Oh she remembered the big stuff - anti-plastic, Rose saving her-as-a-his life, and the Consciousness dying in agony - but how they got there was missing.

 _C'mon, think! How'd we get there?_ She did know that it involved Mickey somehow, so did she follow him? She considered that possibility and then immediately tossed it out the window. Too dangerous. He had his own path to walk...but did he have to walk that one now? Yeah, Big Ears didn't like domestics but Baby Face and Eyebrows had liked it just fine. Maybe being a woman this time would make things more amicable between them?

A snort followed that thought.  _Not ruddy likely._ She was going to run off with his girlfriend after all, that sort of thing transcended those silly little gender stereotypes the human race was so keen on.

Anyway, getting back on track, she made a note to keep an eye on Mickey and put the TARDIS in a state of temporal grace. Now she had a chance to think over the next step properly, once they found the Consciousness what then? Poor thing was terrified, starving, and desperate - a very dangerous combination. A hum from the console caught her attention and all she could do was scowl at the vial full of black-blue liquid that had been lying there ever since she got back and took off.

"No." She told Her fiercely, "Absolutely not. Not this time." There had been enough of killing and poison. High time she approached this as she should've done the first time: As a Doctor.

Decided, she pulled the scanner back around - such a dinky little thing, she was going to have to fix that at some point - and started looking through the local star charts. There had to be some planets out there with the right mix of chemical compounds for the Consciousness to survive on, if she could just convince it that she could get it there...but would it trust the word of a Time Lord? It hadn't last time after all. Granted the anti-plastic hadn't helped matters - reason fourteen not to resort to it - but even then this entity lost everything in the Time War.

 _This of course is all elementary if I can't even find it._ And now she was back to annoyed, a step away from smacking her head.  _Come on, you stupid old head! Where'd you find it?_ Still nothing. Well it looked like she'd be keeping an eye on Mickey then, easy enough from here. A few quick keystrokes and commands into the scanner and the TARDIS was soon locked on to Mickey Smith's timestream.

The screen flipped on, showing a small suburban road like any thousands of others in London. Looked peaceful enough, nothing out of the ordinary...except for that ugly yellow Beetle that was cluttering up the road. Oh, and wouldn't you know it, Mickey Smith himself was the one driving it as he got out and went to check out a bin. Seriously? A bin? Was he that bored?  _Oh, rude. Still got it then._

She kept watching as Mickey flipped open the bin lid, only to find nothing and slamming it back down. When he tried to leave though his hands remained glued to the top of the lid. As he tried to pull away, the hold on his arms grew stronger until it snapped him up and swallowed him whole, letting out a belch for good measure.

Part of her, a new part she supposed, railed against not doing anything to help him but what remained of the grumpy Scotsman kept her back. Big picture and all that.  _But why take him? What's he done wrong? He doesn't know what's going on except...oh._

Her thoughts trailed off as the bin started shifting and morphing into a new form, sprouting arms, legs and a head, perfectly replicating the body and clothing of Mickey Smith...could do without that stupid grin on his face though as he got back into the car.

 _A duplicate...wait..._ and then it hit her at last. A duplicate! That's how she could find the Nestene Consciousness! Might even be able to start negotiations on a good first foot if she approached it right. Now there was just the matter of picking Rose up and they could get-

 _"Alright! He's a nutter, complete online conspiracy freak! You win."_  Well the universe was being very kind today as the girl in question stepped out of the house Mickey had parked outside of, looking incredibly put out for some reason, and chucked herself into the Beetle without fanfare.

 _Perfect._ Now just follow the signal from the duplicate to wherever they ended up and they could get the real work started.

For once the TARDIS followed her directives and soon She was landing in the open space behind a middling to interesting restaurant. Nice enough, if you liked that sort of thing - who knows, maybe she liked them this time around as well. Anyway, the Doctor made a beeline for the doors and ran out into the night, a quick sonicking on the back door and she had access to the kitchens which she milled through easily enough (gotta love London chefs) snagging a champagne bottle on the way. Coming out of the kitchens into the dining area itself, she quickly spotted Rose and the Duplicate on the lower level, the former going back over her job prospects whilst the silly plastic thing continued to grin emptily at her.

"...I could do A Levels...I dunno. It's all Jimmy Stone's fault. I only left school 'cos of him and..." and the rest dribbled off as the Doctor felt an old urge to hunt down the man who made her Rose doubt herself so much reemerge, apparently that stuck around regardless of gender. Just as quickly as it came though she pushed it aside, that was then, this was now, and she had more important things to worry about. Speaking of which...

"So where'd you meet this Doctor?" The Duplicate asked, his dumb smile finally dropping for something more grim.

 _Oop, that's my cue._ Without missing a beat, she started making her way over to the couple, bottle in hand, whilst the Duplicate continued its interrogation. "'Cos I reckon it all started back at the shop, am I right? Is he something to do with that?"

Interesting. The Consciousness didn't know she was a she yet, understandable considering all her past faces but that also reinforced just how bad a shape it was in. In the old days it would've known exactly what she looked like three minutes after first contact.  _Homeless, starving and desperate. A dangerous combination._

"What was he doin' there?" The Duplicate's question brought her back to the present as she hopped down the step, a touch of fear in its tone no doubt based on the times she'd bested its creator before.

"I'm not goin' on about her, Mickey." Rose told him firmly, apparently missing the gender flip. "I know it sounds daft but...I don't think she's safe."

 _True enough._ The Doctor tried to not let her doubts sting, they didn't know each other yet, it was natural for her to think that.

Not good enough for the plastic Mickey though as he eagerly leaned forward, "But you can trust me sweetheart-babe-sugar-darling-sugar. You can tell me anythin'!"

In  _really_ bad shape then. She'd never seen a Duplicate short out like that before, had it done this last time? It must've done. Either way it just added to the pile of things she needed to talk to the Consciousness about. And speaking of starving ancient beings, the Duplicate kept on rambling to its template's confused girlfriend. "Tell me about the Doctor and what he's planning and I can help you, Rose. 'Cos that's all I wanna do sweetheart-babe-sugar-sweetheart."

"Aww!" The Doctor finally made her presence known, grinning down at the couple who snapped up to look at her along with the rest of the diners. "That's so sweet! Isn't that sweet, everyone? The Girl and the Dummy, inter-species romance at its finest."

"The hell're you playin' at?" The Duplicate demanded, glaring up at the newcomer with all the frustration its squeaky face could profess.

"Oh, I just saw the happy couple and couldn't help congratulating you." So doing, she began to shake the champagne bottle good and hard for a couple of seconds and then pointed the cork at its head. "On the house!"

A little nudge from her thumb was all that was needed then to send the cork flying straight out and into the plastic creature's face, smacking its brow hard. If it had been human the force would've sent it flying to the floor writhing in agony. Instead the whole cork just got slurped into its 'skin', before it spat the thing out onto its plate.

Total silence followed the reveal, Rose staring at the Mickey copy in stunned awe, the rest of the diners doing likewise. The Doctor however maintained a calm stare, her eyes looking it over for a moment before saying calmly. "Don't get up. Don't make a scene. I know what you are and why you're here. Just take me to the Nestene Consciousness and we can talk this over."

At the utterance of its creator's name, the Duplicate's shock at being revealed turned into a vicious scowl and it leapt up from its chair, it's arms morphed into large chopping blades which came crashing down towards her head. The Doctor moved faster though, grabbing Rose by the shoulders and pulling her away just in time to miss the first chop.

"Please." She pleaded with it as she dodged another slice, trying her best to keep the diners out of the way of those arms. "I don't want to hurt you or the Consciousness."

"What d'you know about us, eh?" The Duplicate snapped, launching itself at her again which the Doctor flowed around and sent him running into the empty wall. Glaring at her, he came around to attack again. "What could a little human possibly know of our sufferin'? Your tiny brain couldn't begin to know what it is to lose!"

"Did you just say I have a small mind?" Oop, never mind, big slicey killing things up ahead.

Their conversation was suddenly drowned out as the fire alarm suddenly sounded, followed by Rose ordering all the diners still present to get out.  _Good girl._ The Doctor couldn't help a small moment of pride in her before dodging another strike. Now that they were out of the way she could let the Duplicate crash around much more easily and so she jumped back up the stairs nearby, grabbing Roses hand and pulling her away back towards the kitchens.

Plastic Mickey was hot on their heels still yelling at them to get back here but they ignored him in favour of getting the kitchen staff out of the way. They didn't quite know what to make of their hurried warnings until the creature smashed through the doors roaring in fury as it tried to catch up with them.

They made it to the back door and slammed it shut, the Doctor holding it closed with her ear to the metal whilst Rose ran all the way to the large double gate on the far side and pulled at it in vain. Meanwhile the Doctor kept listening, the smashing of the kitchen getting louder and more frenzied as the Duplicate closed in on them...and then  _bam!_ The creature's blades smacked against the door, nearly throwing her off of it completely but she held firm, pulling out her screwdriver and locking it at last.

"Listen to me, please!" She shouted over the cacophony of the breakout attempt. "I can take you somewhere else! Somewhere where you can grow and rebuild! Please, let me help you!"

Another smack against the door and this time she really was shoved off, it wouldn't hold for much longer and then what?

"The gate's locked!" Rose called out to her from the far side, "C'mon! Use that tube thing on it!"

Any other day, the Doctor would've taken offence at her screwdriver being called that but right now she was trying to figure out her next step. The Duplicate didn't want to talk, that much was clear, but she still had to talk to the Consciousness...which meant she was going to have to use the signal from the Duplicate to do track it. Oh this new body didn't like that idea, how had Big Ears ever managed to do it?

No other option was presenting itself though. With a sigh, she turned away from the door that had started to give way and fished out her key.

"Rose!" She called out to her, getting her attention away from the gates. "Get inside."

And with that she unlocked the TARDIS and stepped inside, ignoring Rose's incredulous statement about hiding inside a box. Quickly she ran up to the console and unhooked the plastic arm from the tracing cables, pulling all of them out and towards the doors which suddenly burst open to admit Rose...who took one look at the inside of her ship and then ran back out. Smiling a little at that classic reaction, the Doctor got back to work at setting up her trap, hanging the cables around the doors, and stepped back.

After a moment, Rose came rushing back inside. "It's gonna follow us!"

"Oh I certainly hope so." She murmured and clicked her fingers.

The doors blew open just in time to see the Duplicate smash its way through at last. When it looked up though it paused as it took in the blue box before it, no doubt information from the Nestene Consciousness telling it what it represented. For moment, hesitation and fear took over the creature's face, but then it zeroed in on the Doctor. bellowed furiously at her, and rushed forwards.

"Doctor!" Rose's call was almost unheard but it got her backing up just in time, screwdriver flicking around her fingers as she got it to the right setting. Three nanoseconds after the Duplicate set foot on board, the trap was sprung.

Pointing the screwdriver at the console, the Doctor activated the tracing protocols and the cables that had been hanging around leapt into action. One strapped itself to the plastic Mickey's head whilst another wrapped itself around its torso, two more grabbed its arms and the last one did the same to its legs. Realising too late that it had been caught, the Duplicate desperately tried to flail itself free to no avail. Roaring and grunting did nothing, if anything the cables just held on tighter.

And all the Doctor could feel was sad that it had come to this. "I'm sorry. I wanted to help."

At her words, the Duplicate stopped moving and finally took her in. For a moment disbelief was there, before it was coated with realisation, followed by hate-filled fury as it looked on her anew. "So it's you then." It spat.

"It's me." She simply replied before turning her back on it and attending to Rose who was both parts staring at the TARDIS and the Mickey copy. "You alright?"

"I...it..." Rose barely saw her as her eyes kept darting around before falling on the Duplicate. "That...that's Mickey."

"It only looks like him." She told her, "Nestene Duplicate, designed for espionage. Not that good a copy though, what with all the shorting out it was doin'."

"An'..." Eyes back on the TARDIS now, "the inside's bigger than the outside?"

"Yes."

"It's alien?"

"Yes."  _Please don't run._

Rose's eyes finally turned away from both oddities to face her, the oddest thing in the room, a look on her face that said she'd been told something she'd been trying to deny but now had to ask to be sure. "Are you alien?"

There was no other answer for the Doctor to give but a nervous 'Yes.' Oh this was bad, this was so very very not good, the look Rose was giving her, like she didn't know what to make of that admission, hurt more than she could understand. She needed to take the attention off of her. "And this is my TARDIS. Stands for 'Time And Relative Dimension In Space.'"

Impressing her with her quite frankly amazing Time Ship was a complete failure as instead of being amazed, Rose looked back at the bound copy by the door and let out a small sob which just made the Doctor scared all over again. Thinking she knew what had happened she tentatively placed a hand on Rose's left elbow in what she hoped was a comforting manner. "Hey, it's alright. That thing can't hurt anyone anymo-"

"Did they kill him?" Rose cut her off, stepping out of her grip, eyes still focussed on the Duplicate who was glowering at the Doctor. "Well? Did you kill Mickey?"

At her question, the plastic agent's glare turned into a sickly grin as he turned his gaze onto her. "Aw, what's wrong,  _babe?_ Figured this'd be an upgrade compared to that idiot."

"An  _upgrade?!"_ Oh there was that temper, grief plus anger, as Rose stalked towards it with just the beginning embers of righteous fury. "That 'idiot' was my boyfriend! You copied 'im, took 'im away, an' you think this is  _funny?!"_

"Rose!" Her words pushed the Doctor into action and she quickly steered her away from the still smirking Duplicate so that they now faced each other. "Rose I promise, if Mickey's alive we'll bring him home."

"And how're you gonna do that?!" She demanded, her tone choked by her grief at the possibility that her best friend had been killed because of her.

Well, she'd intended to do better this time, might as well start living up to it. "Easy enough. Plastic boy over there is still connected to the Consciousness, which means I can trace the signal back to the source."

"Oh?" The Duplicate laughed derisively at her back, Mickey's cockney accent slipping away as it gave up the pretence altogether. "You think the Creator will let you find It? It was old before you were even an idea, Doctor, and It will still be here long after you're gone."

"I can only hope." She agreed with a nod, turning to address it. "But for that to happen I need to speak with it. Just take me there, let us talk. This can be resolved without any more violence."

She ignored Rose's shocked look of protest, this wasn't the time to get emotional. It had to be possible to end this without resorting to anti plastic, everything in her being demanded that she find a better solution than execution.

But the Duplicate just laughed at them both, as if they were the ones who fell into a trap. "Oh that's never going to happen, Doctor."

"No?" What was it with almighty forces with power over the inanimate that gave them such audacious arrogance? "You're connected to the Nestene Consciousness, so you know everything it knows. Tell me, what happened the last time it tried to take this world?"

It wasn't a threat, merely a statement of fact, the Autons had to know how many times they'd been stopped from taking the Earth. Sure enough the grin on the Duplicate's face fell away, however the confidence remained as it stared defiantly at the pair of them. "It doesn't matter. The Creator has seen you, Doctor...which means my mission is complete."

For a moment it seemed like that was just another chest-pounding declaration of greatness...until it hit just what it was talking about. Before the Doctor could react, the plastic being's knees gave out and it collapsed to the floor with a disgusting squelch, parts of its face starting to bubble as its whole body began to melt away.

"No, no, no, no!" Spinning around, the Doctor sprang onto the console and frantically started working the controls. The TARDIS started up and began shaking around, slaved to the signal that was fading fast.

"What's goin' on?!" Rose asked, stumbling over and grabbing hold of one of the struts to stay stood up, her eyes unable to look away from the melting Mickey. "What's 'appening to 'im?"

"Asset denial." She told her, still wrestling with her memory about what did what, "They're trying to keep me from finding it - no, no, no! Don't do that! Come on!"

More shaking, more juddering, and the Doctor hurried around the different controls trying to get the signal back. But it was still fading in and out, no matter what she did to try to revive the signal, hampered further by her lacking familiarity with this layout.  _Argh! I really need to redecorate!_

At last the landing cycle began, the readings saying that they were almost right on top of it. Just a little bit more, just a nudge! And then  _Thud!_ The moment she heard that noise, the Doctor leapt away from the console and streaked across to the door, Rose a second behind her. Pulling the doors open she ran out into London again...and found herself on the banks of the Thames.

"No! I lost it!" Ruddy moronic, infuriating, pride-filled, pudding-brained, plastic head! "Alright, don't panic, not the end of the world. Well it could be the end of the world, but one thing at a time."

"We've moved." A bewildered Rose said behind her, looking around at their new surroundings before looking back at the Old Girl. "How'd it do that? Does it fly?"

"Pocket dimension." She explained over her shoulder, not really paying all that attention. "The outer shell stops existing in one place and starts existing in another. Long story, not the time."

"Okay..." Point in her favour, shaken as she was, at least she wasn't going on about it. A look back at the box and a light sniff of the odour seeping out the doors however put her onto a far more important topic. "But hang on, you said you were tracin' a signal, yeah? What happened to that?"

"You saw Plastic Boy. He melted away, the signal went with him." Letting out another frustrated grunt the Doctor waved her arms around at the embankment and the thriving city around it before barging passed Rose to lean against the TARDIS's doors, head knocking against the wood. "And I was right on top of it too! Just a couple more seconds and I'd've had it!"

"I'll have to tell 'em all back home..." Rose's murmured comment stopped her headbanging and the Doctor looked at her in askance, had she missed something there? Her lost expression however managed to irk the other blonde the wrong way and she gave her a patent Tyler glare. "Mickey, you dumb bint! I'll 'ave to tell 'em all that he's dead and you jus' went an' forgot."

Yes, forgetting seemed to be the in thing these days, bad enough she couldn't remember how she found the Consciousness last time, now little old Mickey was lost as well. Brilliant start to this second chance, Doctor, really top form. "Just gimme a minute to think. We're not nabbed yet."

Her intent had been to assure but if anything Rose just built up more steam at her seeming nonchalance. Although at least she wasn't exploding at her...yet. She might still have done but something else caught her first. "If you are an alien, how comes you sound like you're from the North?"

"Lots of planets have a North." She said back automatically, something about it just sounding right to her ears. Had they played with that line before? Wait no, distracting later - Rose was always good at that - focus now.

But, as was her way, Rose was not one to let the Doctor do things her way as her gaze passed over the TARDIS again and, despite their dire situation, had to ask about its appearance. "What's a Police Public Call Box?"

Glancing up at Her, the Doctor couldn't help proudly patting Her doors with a grin. "Old 1950s telephone box, for police use only."

"And what? You just nabbed one when they weren't lookin' and stuck your ship in it?"

Oh...that was such a Rose Tyler thing to say. She couldn't help it, the Doctor let out a little laugh of her own before shooting her Pink-and-Yellow girl an incredulous smile. "No! I landed here years ago and that's the form She took. It's a disguise."

"A big blue box?" Oh there it was, the disbelieving smile at such an idea. That look of hers that said, clear as day, 'Yep, definitely alien.' It only lasted a second though before Rose shook it off and returned to the previous problem. "So what do we do now if we can't find Mickey?"

"Still trying to work that out." The Doctor admitted, shoving off of the TARDIS and looking around their surroundings again. The London Eye was almost directly across from them on the other side of the Thames, sounds of city life just beginning to reach their evening din and not a single one of them was triggering a memory. What was wrong with this new head? "The signal brought us here, which means the Consciousness can't be more than half a mile from where we're standing but..." she trailed off with a shrug and a headshake, there was nothing else to go on from there.

"And...what'd we be lookin' for exactly?"

"The transmitter." She answered Rose's question, pacing away a bit until the giant Ferris wheel was directly behind her. "The Autons are coming to life via short-range control but for a global takeover, the Consciousness needs to amplify its abilities with a massive transmitter...but how do you hide something that big in a city this small?" She shrugged again, turning to face Rose who was looking just over her shoulder. "Sorry, but I'm a bit stuck right...what?"

Rose just nodded beyond her. Oh crud - wow she had a habit of using that word didn't she? - was there another Auton behind her? Looking around she didn't see anything, just the Eye and the night sky. Flicking back she asked again, "What?"

She just nodded again over her shoulder at whatever it was and the Doctor looked again. Still nothing, but then why was Rose telling her to look? "What is it?"

Now Rose just shook her head, gaze tilted slightly to the heavens with a look that suggested she was dealing with the reigning Queen of idiots. Well maybe if she used words instead of bodily motions, maybe the Doctor could understand it. Honestly, the only thing behind her was the giant Ferris...wheel. Flicking her head back around, the Doctor looked at the London Eye again, that giant millennium monument - round, massive, wheel-shaped, and slapbang right in the middle of town - and finally saw her missing piece: the transmitter!

"Oh, brilliant!" The Doctor couldn't help it, her head swinging back around, a massive grin pulling her whole face up as the urge to run began beating out a samba in her hearts. It was infectious apparently as Rose herself was beginning to smile as well, and it only got bigger as the first blonde dashed forward and grabbed her hand. "C'mon then, let's get a shift on!"


	4. Negotiations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, lets see if we can save another life...

_Blimey..._ the Doctor huffed in another breath as they finally arrived beneath the Eye, clutching her side.  _Was running always this hard?_

"You sure you're alright?" Rose asked for the third time, her concern having grown from the last time they'd had to stop because of this.

But the Doctor just waved her off, sucking it in and pulling herself back upright. "It's fine, I'm fine. I'll be fine. I'm still new, still got all this..." she waved her hand around her chest distractedly, wincing a little "fizzing going on inside. It's slowing me down."

Not to mention the top-heaviness of this body that she still wasn't used to. Stupid teats, how in the world was Rose still standing with these silly things in the way?

As for the girl herself, she was looking at where her alien host was waving her arms around and an idea was coming to mind about exactly what was wrong with her. A moment later a cheeky grin was tugging at her mouth. "Sure it's not 'cos you're goin' loose?"

"Eh?" What was that supposed to mean? Well yes, all her clothes were a bit loose but it wasn't like she'd had time to change! There was trillion-year-old entity getting ready to dominate the world, fashion could wait!

And again, Rose was just shaking her head, ill-timed mirth dancing in her eyes. "So, Carrie Fischer had it right, then? Underwear isn't a thing in space?"

"Oi, I am so wearing underwear!" Seriously, had she always been this rude? Probably, she was a Londoner after all (oh there was that Northern ire). "I've got question-mark underpants."

"Yeah?" And still with the cheeky smirk, any second now that sly tongue would be sticking out. "What about up top? No bra?"

_Bra?_ That was the things developing female humans wore, yes? Why would she need one of those? All they did was keep their teats from...flying around everywhere.  _Oh._ Well that was a bit embarrassing, was she blushing? Did this body do blushing? Yep, her cheeks felt a little bit red, blushing it was. No, not right! She did the making people blush thing, that was her thing! Rose's thing was to do the adorable blushing thing...and other distracting things like what she was doing right now, which really wasn't important.

"Anyway!" She pointedly looked anywhere but at her smirking companion, good thing there was a nice big wheel-come-transmitter to stare at. "Big wheel, big transmitter, big Auton coming out party. Everything plastic coming alive at once. Might wanna think about cutting down on that."

"Hmm," Rose nodded, looking somewhat serious as she started scanning the area, "imagine the shock half the Estate'll have when the breast implants start jumpin' about."

Okay, so not that serious. Rolling her eyes at her cheeky girl's last little dig at her expense, the Doctor started looking around as well. "Now, the Nestene Consciousness must be somewhere beneath the Eye."

"What do we do when we find it?"

"I talk to it and convince it to leave."

That got her a doubtful glance from Rose. "An' it'll jus' do that?"

"Well why wouldn't it?" She asked back, seriously why did everyone want her to kill it? Even the TARDIS was pushing her to do that, omniscient Time Ship that She was one would think She could see how well that went last time. No, this had to be a better solution.

"An' if it doesn't go along with it?"

Oh trust her to ask the hard questions. "Well, then I'll think up something clever and get us out of it."

"You don't have the first clue what you're doing, do you?"

"Nope. I never try to know what I'm doing, it's called an open mind. You should try it." Oh there it was, rude and not ginger. Huffing and looking away, the Doctor continued to look around the embankment in an attempt to jog her memory. This forgetfulness thing had stopped being amusing now and was just annoying.

"Well..." Oh no, what was that tone for? A doubtful but still owning up tone that suggested Rose had done something really stupid and she should be annoyed with her but it always worked out in the end so never mind...wow that was mouthful. Anyway she turned back to face her...and all but blanched at what she saw her holding in her hand. "Would this help?"

The vial... "Where did you get that?"

"It was on that console thing in your ship." She explained nervously, "We got a bit thrown around an' it nearly fell. I caught it jus' before we landed."

_What?_ When did that happen? What the actual  _hell_ was her TARDIS playing at?! Feeling a touch of her new Huddersfield temper coming up, the Doctor stalked back to her and snatched the vial out of Rose's hand, stuffing it into her trouser pocket. "No. Never again. I'm  _not_ resorting to that again!"

"But what is it?" She pushed, curiosity overriding nerves.

"Anti-plastic." The Doctor answered crossly, furious with her ship all over again. "Breaks down the molecular structure, perfect if you want to kill anything made of living plastic."

How dare She? Trying to turn Rose into a killer. What the hell was wrong with the TARDIS?

Her angry far away stare wasn't lost on the girl in question who watched her carefully, trying to read her mood. "So...killin' it's off the table, gettin' that...why'd you have it then?"

"Souvenir." She muttered back, "From another time. I was younger, far more arrogant...and a lot more Northern."

"Right..." Deciding to leave it at that, Rose turned and focussed on looking for a way down. This woman was a walking contradiction that she just couldn't work out and she wasn't quite sure she wanted to. How odd was it that stopping an alien invasion was the less daunting job? And that was without just tipping the anti plastic in and legging it. Shaking her head, she moved away from the London Eye and leaned over the balustrade of the Embankment. Doing so, her eyes caught sight of what looked like a manhole...it couldn't be that simple, could it?

"Doctor! This look like a way in?"

Her call got the Doctor's attention and she dashed over to her side, looking over as well. When she spotted what Rose had seen, her residual ire dropped away and her smile returned. "Oh, that's perfect! C'mon!"

Grabbing Rose's hand again, she led her down the nearby steps (naturally ignoring the caution warnings, who said she couldn't go somewhere?) towards their not-so-shiny tunnel end. A quick sonicking later, the manhole came up and both blondes were descending into darkness. Very hot, very stinky darkness.

_Oh, that's a stench!_ Now this she remembered, nothing reeked quite like the stink of liquid plastic...well Elizabethan England but that was a smell in its own special category. Poor Rose didn't seem to be faring any better, in fact it must be worse for her seeing as she didn't have respiratory bypass to fall back on. Chalk up another win for superior Time Lord biology.

Finally their climb ended in a dimly lit, but still sweltering, chamber with another locked door in the way...oh look it wasn't locked anymore - obsolete it may be, but the Doctor still loved her screwdriver's ability to open any door she wanted it to. Pulling the door open they were hit again by the renewed stench of burning plastic which gave her pause for a moment. Gods it was awful! But then she pulled herself together and led the way into a much larger, better lit chamber.

In the pit below there was a giant vat, and within the vat was the source of the disgusting smell that had her wishing she'd regenerated without a nose this time around. A giant, orange, gooey mass of molten stinky plastic, roiling and bubbling away along with the odd roar here and there.

"There it is." She murmured almost reverently at the sight of it. "The Nestene Consciousness...one of the oldest creatures in the universe, now a refugee."

"So..." Rose began, doing her best to keep a straight face despite the odour, deliberately breathing through her mouth, "got a plan yet?"

"Not so much a plan, more a thing." Ah things, far more greyness in those. Shrugging at Rose's questioning expression, she shoved off and made her way down another set of stairs.

She was only a few steps down though when the Nestene Consciousness called out to her, halting her in her tracks.  _"Marrow and iron, blood and bone, We see you Doctor."_

"Well I wasn't exactly trying to hide." She said back before reining it in. Now really wasn't the time to get all Northern with the big goop. Shame that. "I seek an audience under peaceful contract, according to Convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation."

The Consciousness bubbled by itself for a moment, though the Doctor suspected in reality it was weighing her words to see if it could twist them in its favour.  _Good luck with that._ She couldn't help it if she knew her diplomacy.  _C'mon, let words win this time._

And at last, the Old One stated reluctantly,  _"Audience granted, Doctor."_

"Thank you." Step one complete. "That I might have permission to approach?"

_"Granted."_ If it had teeth she was sure it would be grinding them at the inability to find a counter to such a reasonable request. Well tough, they were having this chat whether it liked it or not, she hadn't had a chance to test out her new scolding abilities yet.

"Oh my god, Mickey!" Rose's word preceded her before she bounded past the Doctor,  _without_ the Consciousness' permission, rushing down the stairs to the next level where, bound to the railing and reeking of sweat, plastic and...ugh, wastewater, was one Mickey Smith.

Upon seeing them, he started blubbering unintelligibly for a few moments, fingers pointing back and forth between him, them, the Consciousness, and the Auton guards. Even when Rose knelt down beside him he didn't let up, but he did start to make some sense. "That - the - it's a - Rose that thing it - the liquid, Rose it can talk!"

Well then, that was curious. Had Mickey been able to understand the Consciousness before? Probably.  _See what happens when you ignore the domestics, Big Ears?_ She groused at her past (former past?) self before following Rose's lead and kneeling down in front of the surprising young man. "Hello there, Mickey. I'm the Doctor, I've been helping Rose here look for you. Hold still now, let's have a look at you."

Quickly she scanned him with her screwdriver. "Yep, you're okay. Now lets get those arms free." Another buzz and the bonds holding Mickey to the railing fell loose. "Right then Rose, keep an eye on your man, me and himself down there're gonna have a nice old chinwag."

"Still no plan?"

"Not yet," She admitted, standing back up straight and pocketing the sonic "but I'm sure I'll think of something. I'm really good in a tight spot...well I have been. I'm sure I still am."

Not the most reassuring thing she could've said but then she was still getting used to being a  _she_ at all so she could be forgiven for not having the best lines just yet. Anyway, leaving Mickey the Stink in Rose's hands, she took the next flight of stairs down to the staging ground and walked up to the edge where the Nestene Consciousness was roiling and rumbling inside the giant vat. Time to talk this out.

"Hi!" She gave it an open grin, best to start on a good first impression. "Okay, awful question first but I need to ask it, what have you been eating lately?"

_"You have been granted audience."_ The Consciousness rumbled at her, a note of strain in its tone denoting just how annoyed with her it was.  _"Speak your words, Doctor, and leave but do not waste Our time with meaningless questions."_

"Well sorry. It's just I ran into one of your Duplicates whilst I was looking for you. Didn't look all that good." Was it her or did the big blob suddenly rumble a little less imperiously? Good, rule one of dealing with Old Ones, point out their shortcomings - they always get so defensive. "It tried to kill me. Your orders?"

_"You...have a reputation."_

"Yeah, tryin' to give it up. How'm I doing?"

_"Enough!"_ The creature suddenly roared, the vat itself shaking violently and the chamber with it, forcing the Doctor to stumble backwards.  _"You have sought audience with regards to this planet! We grant you this puny admittance because it suits Us! Speak and leave, Doctor!"_

_Well, talk about touchy._ Shaking her head at the attitude, the Doctor stepped forward again, this time remaining upright. "Alright then, big boy, if that's how you wanna play it. You've committed acts of aggression against the indigenous life forms of this planet, two of which I was witness to. Care to explain yourself?"

_"Knowledge of our existence must be protected."_ It replied, giving off no real sense of remorse for its actions which she could sadly understand. To a creature this old and powerful, a Twenty First Century Earth was probably minuscule in its eyes.

"But why here?" She pressed, going along with that precise thought. "Why, of all planets in the universe that could sustain you, would you choose a world so poorly equipped as this one? You know you can't thrive here!"

_"The chemicals in this worlds atmosphere are sufficient. We will rebuild and-"_

"Oh come off it!" She cut it off before its speech of its own self-importance could build steam, this newfound patience of hers apparently didn't tolerate horn tooting. "Rebuild on this planet? In this time zone? You'd starve one solar cycle after all the humans who pump those toxins into the air are dead! Which, I might add, is never gonna happen."

_"We are in refuge!"_ The Consciousness bubbled back angrily, the ground rumbling again as a result. _"Polymos is gone! Our foodstocks gone! Constitution grants Us the right to seed a new world that provides such as granted-"_

"Maybe, but seeding a Level 5 planet?" She retaliated before scoffing and glaring down at it. "Pretty sure you know better than that. Did you really think no one was watching?"

_"How sanctimonious."_ If it had lips, the Doctor imagined the Consciousness would be pulling them into a sneer.  _"The Doctor. Once again defending a world not your own. Had you shown such dedication to Gallifrey perhaps-"_

"Stop! Right there!" She hadn't meant to shout, but that was a dig she wouldn't tolerate. It didn't matter that no one save herself knew the truth of what happened that day, or that when she finally had made it back it had been through basically a perverse method of torture using her nightmares, Gallifrey was her home and she'd be damned if anyone accused her of not caring about it. And besides that... "The Time War is over. It's in the past and has no bearing on this meeting."

_"Does it not?!"_ The Consciousness roared back, its temper clearly reaching boiling point.  _"How many worlds burned because of your people?! How many species were wiped out by the Daleks?! How often have you merely run from the numbers of lives you_ ruined,  _Doctor?!"_

"I. AM.  **TALKING!"** Floppy Hair had nothing on her lungs. The loud, scolding tone also helped - very good scolding techniques, good to know - and the Consciousness finally fell silent again. The Doctor however just kicked herself, the proper topic was getting away from them and her having moved on from the War was not helping matters.

Taking another calming breath, she started again. "I'm sorry that you lost your world, sorry you were forced to run, and I'm sorry that you were so afraid that you hid here of all places. But it's over. The War is over. So what say we work together, you and me? I can find you a planet better suited for your needs and you can grow again."

Silence passed after her declaration, whether because her generosity stupefied her audience or because they were still scared out of their minds of her was hard to tell...but then finally, the Nestene Consciousness rumbled a reply.  _"You would propose an alliance?"_

Was that interest there? Yes, it sounded indeed like interest. Perfect! Smiling, the Doctor squatted back down at the edge of the platform again. "Yes, of course! I can help you find a new home. Just stand your forces down and leave Earth alone."

_"Why would you do this?"_

"Why not?" Seriously did she have to have a reason for doing the right thing other than the fact that it was, in fact, the right thing to do? Had her time as a he really twisted the Name of the Doctor so badly that no one remembered what that promise was supposed to mean anymore? Well then, time for a refresher's course: "Because there's always time to change. We can evolve while still staying true to who we are. We can honour who we've been and choose who we want to be next. And now's our chance, so..." she reached out a hand, palm open invitingly - merely a symbol but one she hoped the Consciousness would understand. "How about it?"

_This is it..._  she'd done it! She had actually talked it down! Now all it had to do was say the words, ask her for her help, and she would move stars to help it start again.

_"We choose..."_ Here it came, it just had to say those words, just four simple words...  _"...to rule."_

What?

"Doctor!"

Rose's call was all the warning she got before she was seized under her armpits and hauled back onto her feet. Two Autons had been using the cacophony of noise made my their creator to sneak up on the Doctor unnoticed until now, with her now completely immobilised. At first she struggled against their hold, her shock at being duped lasting only a second or two, but her arms were of little use to her and there was nothing her legs could kick that would give her an edge. Held as she was, one of her handlers was able to search her and then dig into her trouser pockets coming out with the small blue black vial.

All living creatures had a natural aversion to those materials that could prove hazardous, and the Nestene Consciousness was no different when it sensed the anti plastic. _"What treachery is this?!"_

"No, no please!" Her composure began to crack as the scene started to reflect what was in her memory. "I would never use that! I was keeping it safe!"

_"Safe until needed!"_ It roared back at her, panic and fury taking over.  _"Your intentions are clear! You sought Our destruction!"_

"No, I've seen enough of that!" She insisted, futilely trying to break free of her restrainers. "Don't think like that! I can help you!"

_"No more deceits!"_ The Consciousness bellowed and then addressed one of its foot soldiers.  _"Bring forth the weapon!"_

"Weapon?" She didn't have to think too hard about what it could be talking about, if anything it offended her that anyone could call her TARDIS such. A series of clanks and creaks told her that a door had been opened and she was pulled around to gaze up at the Old Girl Herself behind Rose and Mickey who were looking down fearfully at her. "The TARDIS is no weapon! She's my ship!"

_"These constructs burned the heavens! Life and death meant nought to its operators then, why should this one be any different?!"_

"Don't you DARE include my Girl with them!" Negotiations had broken down as it was, why not get a bit angry - even if she was a little furious with Her - on her ship's behalf? As it was, she just wrenched herself around and glared down at the Old One. "We ended the War, stopped the destruction! If you were so against them, where were you when Arcadia fell!? Well?!"

But the Nestene Consciousness had stopped listening, all its focus now set on the Gallifreyan machine whose kin had played a hand in the destruction of Polymos. Fear drove it now and it howled out to the heavens.  _"RISE! ALL OF MY KIND, RISE AND LIVE AND CONQUER!"_

"NO!" Its command cut through her anger and the Doctor could only watch as the Consciousness began to glow, little trails of plasma running across its surface as its telepathic abilities began to hook up to the transmitter directly above it. "Stop this now!"

Above her, Rose felt the shockwaves as whatever it was the Nestene Consciousness had done rocked back up to her. "What's it doing?!"

"It's going to the final phase!" The Doctor called back fearfully, her eyes dancing between Rose and the source of the creature's panic. "The TARDIS is superior technology and it knows that! It's terrified! You've gotta get out, Rose! Just leg it now!"

By some act of providence, Rose moved to do just that grabbing Mickey from the floor and running back the way they came. However another shockwave suddenly struck them, a result of the Consciousness' abilities beginning to amplify, flinging them back and taking out the ladder she and the Doctor had climbed down in the process. Frantically she looked around for another exit, her eyes suddenly landing on the TARDIS which she then ran for with Mickey close behind. A push on the doors however proved it locked. "I haven't got the key!"

_No, no!_ How had it gone wrong? Was it something she'd said? The Doctor just stared around helplessly as the same events that had played out last time repeated themselves, herself held hostage whilst Rose and Mickey were stuck outside a locked TARDIS. She daren't use the click trick, not around so many Autons, but that meant she couldn't even save Rose from her insane attempt to do better this time...all this extra knowledge and none of it mattered.

Even the anti plastic was out of her reach, and so all she could do was turn to stare hopelessly at her Rose. Oh but she would have been amazing...and now she'd gone and ruined that.  _Well...if it's my last chance to say it..._

"Rose Tyler...I-"

But the Nestene Consciousness roared over her before she could finish.  _"Watch now as We reclaim Our glory, Time Lord!"_

And suddenly there was a change in Rose's stare, which had found hers when the Doctor turned to look at her with that same expression she couldn't read but felt as if all the world was in those eyes. Something it that moment, she could never say what, suddenly clicked as the Doctor tried to say something but was then drowned out. Somewhere out there, right now, her mum was probably running around doing a bit of late night shopping like usual meaning she was right in the middle of all this. And there was nothing the Doctor could do to stop it...but maybe she still could.

Slowly, eyes still on the Doctor, she got back to her feet. No real plan came to mind, nothing clever or sophisticated or anything like that...she just listened to what those hazel eyes staring at her were telling her to do:  _Run!_

And run she did, Mickey's calls for her to just leave the Doctor not even reaching her brain as she dashed to the other end of the platform and grabbed a fire axe. What she was about to do was incredibly dangerous and stupid and any other word for 'idiot' out there, but then what did it matter? "I've got no A Levels. No job. No future...but I'll tell ya what I have got."

Then she slammed the axe into a nearby chain support, letting the whole thing tumble loose like a giant iron rope which she then grabbed hold of, wrapping her arms firmly around it. "Jericho Street Junior School under sevens gymnastics team. I've got the Bronze."

And with a deep breath, before she could let herself think about what she was doing, Rose hurtled towards the edge and flung herself off the platform, swinging straight towards the Doctor. Legs stretching out, she managed to kick one Auton off of her which sent it flying off the platform and into the vat containing the Nestene Consciousness...along with the anti plastic. The moment the glass vial touched the scorching hot plastic flesh of the creature it melted away, letting the liquid flow out and sink into its being.

A second later the Consciousness let out another massive howl, only this time it was clearly in unimaginable pain as the anti plastic did its work, breaking down its molecular structure, killing it from the inside out. Even greater quakes than before shook the chamber, loosening the grip the one remaining Auton had on the Doctor and she was able to shake it free though her gaze remained solely on the creature now writhing in agony.  _I gave you a choice...I offered to help you...why didn't you let me help you?_

A jangle to her left warned her beforehand and she looked up in time to see her rescuer swinging back towards her. "Rose!"

Reaching out as far as she could, she almost missed her as she came back around -  _curse these little legs! Bloody Eyebrows! -_ but at the last second she caught Rose and pulled her back down into her arms. And then she couldn't help pulling her into a tight hug that she hadn't enjoyed for a good thousand years. "Oh, you brilliant girl!"

High on the rush, Rose barely noticed her reaction as she reciprocated the act. "We in trouble?"

A shared glance at the wriggling, roaring creature later, the two blondes couldn't help grinning again as the Doctor summed up their situation: "Run!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The answer is, no, we can't. Stupid ancient being that probably saw the universe grow old. >:(


	5. As it Should Be

Getting away from the imminent implosion of an ancient being that had watched the universe grow old was considerably old hat for the Doctor, doubly so considering she'd made this particular getaway twice now...so it should've been a lot easier than it had been...or rather it would've been if Mickey would've kindly gotten off of her ship long enough for her to open the doors! Once Rose finally managed to pry her silly boyfriend off the TARDIS however, it had been a simple matter to get them all in and away from the chamber.

So...job done...and she remembered she wasn't particularly happy with her ship right now.  _'Right you! What the hell? Giving Rose the anti plastic, setting up so the negotiations would fail. What were you playing at?!'_

The TARDIS merely sent back a gentle calming hum which she promptly ignored, that wasn't going to work this time. They could have ended it without the death of the Nestene Consciousness, surely they could have!  _'It was scared and alone! Sound familiar? Why couldn't I be the pink and yellow girl who makes things better this time?'_

But no, she'd needed the original to save her arse again and...wait...was she  _envious_ of Rose? Well, to be fair she-as-a-he always had been. Rose always found a way to make things better, mostly by being so bloody distracting. So why would that be a problem now? Something to think about as they went on. Another hum from the Old Girl, this time tinged with apology for Her manipulation, reached her mind but she could still sense that, had She been given the chance, She would've done it exactly the same way.

_'Well...it's done now. Doesn't mean you're forgiven though.'_ And with that she closed the conversation and began the landing cycle.

When the TARDIS finally  _Thud-_ ed, she pushed off from the console and strolled over to the petrified Mickey Smith who had been holding onto one of the struts for dear life. Going for gentle, she gave him a light pat on the shoulder which he reacted to like a lightning bolt staring at her as if he didn't know what the hell she was. Backing up, shellshocked, he all but collapsed out the doors before scrambling for the safety of the bins.

"Huh. Looks like we landed just outside your place." She murmured to Rose, noting the courtyard of the Powell Estate. The girl herself was in her own little world as she stepped out of the TARDIS as if that was a casual thing now, checking her phone - probably dialling her mum. Getting through she put it to her ear, listened for a couple of seconds before letting out a relieved laugh and then hung up. So Jackie was okay too, good. That was good.

Job done...time to move on..

Catching her frown at that, Rose popped her phone away to focus on the Doctor. "You alright?"

"Hm?" She sprang back up again, frown disappearing between a blase smile. "Alright? Me? 'Course! Never better. Nestene Consciousness? Easy!" She demonstrated as such with a snap of her fingers.

"Not the way you would've wanted it though." Rose pointed out, remembering just how against killing it she'd been. Going from what she'd seen and heard of the Doctor, she couldn't imagine for a second that she was alright with how this had ended. "I'm sorry."

_Sorry?_ For what? Getting it killed? It was her own bloody fault, she'd thought she could talk it down and had been stupid enough no to toss the damned vial into the Thames. It wasn't Rose's fault and the Doctor would never let her think it.

"I'd've been dead if you hadn't come swinging in, Rose." She told her with all the firmness of belief in her that she'd carried for centuries. Keeping their gazes locked, she gave her a heartsfelt. "Thank you."

But that just brought back the sad fact that it was over and now she had to go...she really didn't want to go. "So...job done...guess I'll be off..."

"Yeah?" Rose asked, wondering why the Doctor wasn't more happy about that. "What'll you do now then?"

_Crud._ Lost for words again and fidgeting, this outfit wasn't built for fidgeting. "Well...jump in the box, go for a fly. There's loads to see...unless...well...d'you..."  _Oh just grow a pair!_ "dyouwannacomewithme?"

"What?"

"Well, this box doesn't just do Earth y'know," Boasting, yes that was good. She was still good at boasting, go for that. "She goes anywhere in the universe. Great benefits too, large wardrobe, good food, your choice of room and...well...anything."

"Don't!" Oh great, they'd forgotten about Mickey. Somewhere along the way he'd crawled over to Rose and was kneeling by her knees, still staring at the Doctor like she was some sort of terrible entity. "She's an alien...she's a scary...scary...thing!"

Well...that hurt more than she was expecting, considering she wouldn't have minded this time if he came along. Still, she hid that reaction behind an intent stare at the focus of her invite who was looking back at her, hands in pockets. "Just us then? Up to you of course. I mean, you could get another job, do the whole work thing...I did that once - hated it, but I did it - never gonna do it again, but, y'know, nothing wrong with that..."

Except there was  _everything_ wrong with that. But she desperately wanted Rose to choose for herself to come with her, just like last time. She wanted her to come along so they could get to know each other all over again, have their ups and downs all over again. And she did seem to be considering it, a light in her eyes as the idea of 'anywhere' struck her mind, things out there that they'd never seen before. A whole universe for them to see anew.

Finally she asked "Is it always this dangerous?"

"No!" Alright, bit of a lie, and going by Rose's face she knew it. "Well, sometimes - not my fault, I'm just a traveller."

Her hemming however triggered a reaction in Mickey and he quickly wrapped his arms around Rose's legs, head pressing against her hip. And like that the light dimmed in her eyes as the reality of her world returned to her.

"Yeah, I can't." That was the right thing to say, even as she saw the Doctor's hopeful face collapse in on itself, "I've gotta go find my mum an'...well," she shook Mickey fondly, "someone's gotta look after this useless lump."

She tried to laugh, but the sadness hidden behind an accepting nod caught her short. Why was she looking at her like that?

_So I really did arse it up..._ Right, she could hold it together for a few more minutes. Nodding shortly, trying for an assuring smile and most certainly failing, the Doctor replied. "Okay...no that's good, really good - family, friends, very important." Backing up, she stepped back inside the TARDIS, eyes still set on her Rose for as long as she could keep them there. "See ya 'round?"

She couldn't have answered that if she tried, because somehow Rose had the terrible feeling that, once those doors shut she would never see that blue box again. But she couldn't just run off, could she? Mum sounded stressed out, Mickey was a mess, and her shop was still blown up. She needed to be here, not running around the stars seeing everything that couldn't be seen here...could she?

Too late to decide though. Hearts heavy, breaking all over again, the Doctor shut the doors. Tear ducts were starting to work, good for them, they needed testing out...just needed to get into the Time Vortex first. Jerkily, she sent the TARDIS on her way,  _Vwoorp-vwoorp-_ ing out of sight, 2005 left behind...and then she collapsed into the seat behind her and let her tears finally run.

_She said no... she said no..._ What was she going to do without her? This was a whole new body that she didn't know the first thing about, a stupid new set of hormones that she didn't understand, she was short and, to top it all off, she still wasn't ginger! Was there any point now in looking for the others or would they just say no as well? Was that the price for coming back?

And now that she had nothing to distract her, that terrifying question came popping back up. Who sent her back? The TARDIS couldn't have pulled something like that off, no matter how meddlesome She liked to be, chucking Her Thief back down her own timestream was beyond even Her capabilities. The Guardians could've done it but she'd seen neither hide nor hair of even the chaotic Black Guardian since the War, so why would they bother playing with her life now?

All these questions lacked answers and that all served to just scare her even more. The TARDIS felt Her Thief's distress and did Her best to soothe her, sending as many telepathic messages of calm and compassion, and while she was grudgingly grateful that her Girl was going that for her it just didn't compare with the comfort of having a hand to hold. As such she just screwed her eyes up, crawled up into a ball and quietly whimpered out all the oncoming terror.

Alone. She was so alone. Stuck in this great big ship that could take her anywhere in time and space and on her first outing she mucked it up so badly that Rose, her Rose, said...wait...

Sniffing a final time, the Doctor quickly ran through that last thought again - stuck in this great big ship that could take her anywhere in time and...anywhere in time...in time!

_Oh, paging Doctor Idiot!_

And with that she was bounding around the console, preparing to take them right back to the moment they left. Exactly that, no jumping forward twelve hours, months, or years, she had to get back there at that moment. Double and then triple-checking the coordinates to make sure they were going where they were supposed to be, the Doctor was set to take them right back, hand on the materialiser...and then halted. Once she did this there was no going back, one last shot to get it right...

And she was still dressed in dad's wardrobe.

_Nope. Not doing that._

Time to try on something new. Quickly locking the settings in with the screwdriver, she dashed down the corridors to where she thought the wardrobe was. After only getting lost twice and the TARDIS most certainly  _not_ taking pity on her and moving the room closer to her, the Doctor was soon awash with any number of choice clothes that she could try on.

Well the first thing she had to attend to were these bloody teats obsession with bobbing everywhere and giving her aches. A bra wouldn't do though, she was a Time Lord from Gallifrey, not some hick from down the road! Her first ever jaunt in the women's section of her wardrobe was the underwear drawer, which lasted all of thirty seconds as she grabbed a small transparent pad off a shelf and immediately stuck it on the small of her back. In an instant the annoying bouncing around came to a halt as the minimised suspension field formed around her teats, keeping them good and steady.

_About bloody time._ Now, with that nightmare finally out of the way, she could focus on the important task of her new look. Should she go for suave, like old Pinstripes, or maybe something a bit simpler like Manchester? Velvety didn't speak to her anymore so Eyebrows' advice was out and if there was one thing she was sure about this body it was that Bowties were most certainly  _not_ cool.

_Ugh, and all these dresses! What's with them?_ She loved a good party as much as the next bloke, the TARDIS loved taking their friends to them, but surely there were a few trousers in here somewhere. What, did she-as-a-he just space them all one day? It sounded like something he would've done if he got bored. Huffing, she shut the cupboard she was looking through and glanced up at the ceiling. "Oi, love! Can you give me something a bit more practical?"

There was a shudder, then a hum...and then an odd whirr which caused the lights to dim for a moment and the Doctor could only frown. "What d'you mean  _no?_ I'm a wreck, and there's no way I'm trouncin' around space in a ballgown so c'mon, where's the sensible stuff?"

Again the TARDIS just gave her a negative response...so what, the only proper clothes for running around and getting into trouble were the clothes her friends brought with them? Where was the sense in that? "Are you pullin' my leg?"

An...innocent toot was her response. Why that meddling little... "Fine! Fine, I'll see what I can manage. Ruddy annoying blippy piece of..."

A few minutes later and the Doctor had a...temporary look until the TARDIS  _finally_ decided to start treating her properly again. She'd cobbled it together from Eyebrows' old look: a simple white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up (since apparently the TARDIS wasn't even going to let her wear her own  _size!),_ switching out the Victorian style waistcoat for a more modern one which she left open. She considered adding the frock coat but changed her mind at the last second because, frankly, it just wasn't long enough. Shame she was so bloody short or she'd just put Janis Joplin's coat back on, doubly so because it had so many pockets for putting things in. She kept it simple with the trousers, no need for clown suits...yet, and finished it off with a pair of brown lace up boots which were just about the only thing about this outfit that she liked.

Looking herself over in the mirror, the only thing the Doctor could say for her appearance was it was far from perfect, none of the colours were particularly bad but it just felt like trampling over an old pathway.

Oh well, it'd have to do...who knows, maybe Rose would like it and then it wouldn't matter. Speaking of...

Her frown jumped back into an excited grin and then the Doctor was running back to the console room, marginally annoyed that there was no whooshing behind her from a coat but she had time. And high time it was to head back to the Powell Estate, London, England, Earth, March, 2005 (by Roman standards). Therefore she pulled down the materialiser and let the TARDIS take them right back to where they were, barely seconds after they left.

At her destination point, Rose Tyler just looked at the place where the strange blue box had just been before it faded away to that strange churning, groaning noise. And that was it, adventure over. Part of her was waiting for the fanfare and congratulations banner from one of Mickey's videogames to shoot out in front of them...but no, the only sound that came was a distant car horn and the usual bustle of evening life around the Estate. The dream had ended.

Shaking herself out of her stupor, trying very hard not to hate herself for backing out, she picked Mickey up and started leading him back to his place. A good cuppa and a snooze and he'd be back on his feet with gusto...and she would be back to trying to find another job with nothing but her GCSEs and a couple of years' work as a retail girl to sell herself with, not helped by her mother harping on day and night and why the hell did she not just jump in that box when the Doctor asked?

Too late now, that strange woman with terrible taste in clothing - even for London - had disappeared in her impossible box and she'd probably never see or hear from her again. Never see those insanely expressive hazel eyes or her jumping over her words to get to a point...and that strange box, with a whole world inside, disappearing from one spot and reappearing...anywhere.

And that noise, she could almost hear it, that strange wheezing...groaning...louder and louder and...wait, was it actually getting louder? Stopping she turned to look around, noticing how the wind had suddenly changed. A light flickered in and out just a few steps away, exactly where the Doctor's box - the TARDIS - had been...and slowly but surely that sound was coming back, growing in pitch...and the box was reappearing until it finally stood there again.

The Doctor had come back.

A moment later, the woman herself popped her head out the door wearing a rather sheepish smile. "Sorry, bit of an oversight. Should've mentioned that it travelled in time as well."

_Time travel?_ That box was a time machine? Now that really was overselling it...or it would be if Rose hadn't seen the different clothes the Doctor was wearing. Alien or not, whatever weird superspeed she might have, there was no way she could've changed clothes and come back all in ten seconds.

"So?" The Doctor asked, keeping her smile in place to hide her nerves. Please let her have got it right this time. "Still not interested?"

Interested? All the universe would have been amazing but all of time as well? Dazed and amazed, Rose barely felt herself turn around to face Mickey one more time who was looking at her with that stupid look on his face. "Thanks."

The stupid look was swapped out for a lost one. "Thanks for what?"

"Exactly." He was sweet, he was...but Rose had just gotten another chance to see something more and she wasn't going to lose it again. Quickly she planted a kiss on his cheek and then she turned around and ran for all her worth, grinning the whole way, right into the TARDIS whose doors closed shut with a click.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right then, that's taken care of. Next chapter...NOT The End of The World. Let's be a bit more interesting, and lets face it, the TARDIS would never let exactly the same thing play out twice.


	6. Not the End of the World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's all agree now that, while poignant and important information was dropped regarding the RTD era, the Doctor taking Rose to watch her planet burn was the dickiest of dick moves...so yeah, not going there right off the bat. 
> 
> Instead, lets take a look through the Moffat era and see what one of those episodes might've been like with these two in the driver's seat.

Not for the first time, the Doctor praised her species for her respiratory bypass. Holding your breath is so much easier that way. Even better to hide the anxious anticipation that was running through her veins as she waited by the console. But then Rose pecked Mickey's cheek and now she was dashing towards her, an excited grin stretching across her face which the Doctor found herself mirroring. As one blonde burst through the doors, the other raised her hand and snapped her fingers to close them, not that either of them noticed as they both ran excitedly back to the console. 

"Right then." The Doctor started happily, for once not bothered by this old layout. "Rose's choice. Stick to Earth or shall we have a look at some new planets?"

New planets...alien planets...the idea of it was so amazing that Rose almost jumped on that one right away. But she stopped herself from saying so, the Doctor said this was a time machine so why not prove it? "Let's do Earth."

Okay, Earth it was. The Doctor bounded around the console, finding the spatial anomaliser - or at least that's what she hoped it was - and turning it off. No alien planets, stick to Earth's timestream, check. She knew what Rose was doing, she wanted to be impressed, wanted her to put her boasting to the test.  _Alright then, Rose Tyler, challenge accepted._

"Time travel then." She said aloud, barely holding back a smile as Rose's eyes widened just a bit in anticipation, oh she loved this bit. "Forwards or backwards?" 

Forwards? Rose had been all set to see the days that had gone by, that's what all the old films showed...but to go forwards... no question about it. "Forwards."

"Future it is." Again the Doctor moved around the console, stopping on Rose's left and flicking another switch, and she was just about to ask how far but then stopped herself. If they started that, they'd end up going all the way to the year five billion again which, quite frankly, was not how she wanted this first journey to go. Showing your old-new friend the fiery ending of her world was not a way to become better friends...which meant they needed a new destination.

Instead then, she immediately started rolling the wheel...but only barely and then twisted the knob next to it. In response the TARDIS began to move ever so briefly, barely a shudder to be felt as they moved forwards in time. Not that that did a thing to either grin. Almost a second after she twisted the knob one way, the Doctor twisted it back again and pointed towards the doors. "And there we go, step outside those doors it's 2012, the London Olympics."

_2012?!_ They'd jumped seven years into the future already? Rose could barely turn her head, the idea that it was as simple as that to reach a year that felt so far off to her... "So...I'm twenty-six out there..."

Oh such a Rose response, tell her they'd jumped forwards in time and she'd just focus on how much she should've aged. Well they couldn't have that, she needed her impressed not vain. "Hm, nice out. You do pretty well...but..." the Doctor shrugged nonchalantly, "a bit dull all things told. You wanna go a bit further?"

Further? And just seven years forward was dull to this woman? Well, if she was trying to prove a point, Rose was game and so she merely responded with a shrug and a sly grin of her own. "Fine by me."

And that was all the Doctor needed, hand back on the wheel for a slightly larger roll but hardly what anyone would call a full rotation and twisting the knob one way. The TARDIS back to life, again keeping Herself very sedate as if she knew just how important it was that this first trip go well...typical, trust Her to work for Rose's comfort but not her own. Half a groan from the engines later, the Doctor twisted the knob back and once again indicated the doors. "Okay, step out there now it's the twenty-second century."

"You're kiddin?" She couldn't help it this time, jumping a hundred years into the future was not something that should be said so casually and it just ramped up her excitement. 

As for the Doctor she just nodded, "Oh yes, the North's back in a big way. Acid mining and live flesh dopplegangers. Start of a whole new civil rights movement too." Ah that'd been a good day...aside from Amy's kidnapping and all the death but never let the bad things spoil the good.

Oh now Rose just knew she was bragging, she'd probably claim that she started that movement she mentioned all by herself. "You think you're so impressive."

It was out before she could stop herself, but it had the desired effect of dropping the Doctor's proud smirk into a mildly offended frown and forcing her to respond with a petulant "I  _am_ so impressive!"

"Wanna prove it then?" Wow her mouth was on a roll today.

_O-ho! Cheeky Rose Tyler._ Not that she minded, it just meant she had to step up her game to something really good. They'd get round to the other things later, but right now the Doctor had one mission only: Wipe that smirk off of Rose's face. "Alright then. You want impressive? You're gonna get it!"

This time she stepped away from the wheel and the knob, hopping right over to Rose's side and flicking on another system that she hadn't used in ages. "So far I've had control of where we're going...now?" She beamed madly, "Not so much." 

"Why? What'd you do?"

"Randomiser." She explained, indicating the switch she'd just flipped. "Takes into account the settings I've put in place: Earth's timestream, future only...and then picks a place at random. So..." She trailed off, dancing back round to the scanner and the knob, her eyes never leaving Rose as she took in this newest party trick. "Anywhere in the future, no idea where we're going, no idea what'll be outside when we land...wanna get off?"

That last bit had to be a joke, no way was she getting off now. The whole thing was...well daunting didn't do what that prospect represented justice...and yet all Rose could think about was the 'anywhere' bit. Somewhere new where nobody knew her name... Finding the Doctor's gaze, which was just as giddy as her own must be, she told her "What're you waitin' on me for? Go for it."

All the permission she needed. The Doctor twisted the knob one more time and the TARDIS groaned to life, that beautiful  _Vwoorp-vwoorp_ filling her ears as She now took command of their journey, flinging them forward to whatever destination She so chose. Her own excitement could be felt by the amount of rocking the Doctor and Rose found themselves balancing against as She jumped and twisted and turned and fell and rose and tried to decide just how much trouble her Thief was really ready to get them into again. 

And finally a spot was chosen, the engines beginning their landing cycle, shaking Her two passengers about...and then finally -  _Thud -_ they came to a stop. 

"Where are we?" Rose was the first to speak up, her grin not having died a bit despite the rocky landing. Who cared how the drive was? She was in the future!

The Doctor however just shrugged. "No idea. The scanner's turned itself off. No surprise otherwise. Only way to find out..." And once again she pointed towards the doors, "Is to take a step outside."

Outside...where there was a whole new world that she'd never seen before. God that was terrifying...so why was she not as scared as she thought she should be? Never mind, it didn't matter. Sparing another second thinking about stuff was just not on her list of things to do and so Rose took the Doctor's suggestion and dashed over to the doors, finally ready to see where they were. So focussed on not thinking though, she almost missed her first step as she flung the doors open. Catching herself at the last second she looked up at where they'd landed...and let out a snort.

"So, how do time travellers ask for directions? 'Cos I think we're a bit lost."

"What?" Frowning, the Doctor left her spot by the console to join Rose by the doors and peering outside. Well she wasn't wrong, they were in the middle of a sea of stars. A pretty sight to be sure...but no Earth. "Well that's not right. I know I locked us onto Earth's timestream, we shouldn't have moved at all..."

And on further inspection of their surroundings... "Who's been shuffling the stars around? They're all in the wrong place."

"Wait..." It actually hit Rose then what they were doing. "We're staring out into space...and we're not suffocating. How're we breathing?"

"That's the TARDIS." The Doctor replied quickly, still inspecting the stars. "She'll keep us safe." 

That one shouldn't be there, and that one was far too close...and that one! That one shouldn't even be visible in the Earth skyline! What had the blinkin' box done this time?

Her pondering over their lost status barely touched Rose's own wonder at the fact that she was staring out into space - unprotected, dangerous, freezing space - and she wasn't exploding like Arnold Schwarzenegger did that one time. And yeah, they were lost but...the stars...she was staring at brand new stars! Oh Keisha and Shireen would never believe this if she told them, which just made her dig for her phone. She had to get a photo of this and show the girls when she got back! This was just mad! 

Of course now the bloody thing decided to be difficult coming out, getting stuck in her hoodie's pocket. Normally she would've huffed in annoyance at that old headache, but her amazement upped her reaction to a fullblown growl and she glared down at her pockets as her fishing for the dumb brick became a struggle for her hand's continued existence... and then her gaze lifted a bit as she spotted something floating just beneath them.

"Just typical." The Doctor muttered to herself, "Try to show a girl a nice time and the bloody box drops us lightyears away from where we should be. Ruddy Helmic Regulator, gotta be that an-"

"Doctor...?" 

The hushed, stunned tone of her companion caught her attention and she turned to look at Rose, whose jaw had dropped open, phone hung limply in her hand as she stared downwards. Now what could put a look like that on the face of Rose Tyler? Curious to see what it could be, the Doctor looked down herself and was greeted by a familiar sight.

_Well that explains the stars._

"Is that..." Rose trailed off as she continued to drink the massive object in... "a city? A giant floatin' city?"

"More than that." The Doctor murmured, frowning at it. Why here? 

"Hang on..." blind to her observations, Rose continued to make her own and immediately spotted something else on the rough base that housed the space city together, "Is that the Union Flag?"

It was. The red on white crosses lying on top of the blue base wasn't something a Brit would mistake. Which meant that city was a British city. A British city in space!

"Is that a space colony?" Years of Mickey's sci-fi shows had her asking the question before she could stop herself.

"More than that." The Doctor repeated. This was...well, she didn't know really. A thousand years, losing Amy and Rory, Floppy Hair had repressed a lot of his memories from this time. All she was getting was that something was really, really wrong down there.

_We should go...we should definitely, really, go..._

"So what's got us building cities in space?" 

And scrap the leaving plan. Rose sought knowledge and she'd be a poor Doctor if she didn't educate whenever and wherever she could. "It's not a colony or a city, Rose. That is Great Britain."

"Wha'? Seriously?" 

"In the twenty-ninth century, a massive Solar Flare was scheduled to hit the Earth." She explained, going into lecture mode (ooh nice, she still had that, thanks Eyebrows!). "Now most species would create a protective dome or reflective barrier, even relocate to another planet. But not you humans, nope. You build a fleet of spaceships and go on an extended cruise of the galaxy! Isn't that brilliant?"

"So, what, we pack our bags an' go...travelling?" It sounded insane just saying it out loud...but then she'd just jumped into a little wooden box that held an entire world inside it so maybe sanity was broader than Rose had once thought. 

"Mmhm." The Doctor nodded, her smile holding as best it could to hide her trepidation. "Wanna have a look?"

"We can?" And suddenly she was nervous, time machine the Doctor had said...and apparently it had taken them to a future where the human race was an armada of homeless nomads. What if she sounded odd or out of place? Did her clothes fit in? Were there odd future laws that she'd be breaking?

"Oi, stop thinking so loud." The Doctor called her back to the fore, noticing the anxious look on Rose's face which in turn reminded her that this was her first time out. She needed to ease her in. As such she ushered her away from the doors, shutting them again, and returned to the console. "We'll be fine, Britain never changes - clothes included. But," she held up a pointy finger whilst the other hand started the dematerialising sequence, "there's a couple of rules to observe."

"Ground rules for time travellin'?" That wasn't helping her nerves. Bad enough she was about to set foot on a space ship version of her country, now there were rules to follow which she was bound to screw up.

"Perfectly sensible rules." The Doctor insisted, seemingly ignoring Rose's growing discomfort as she landed them on board. That done she fixed her with as serious an expression as possible. "Rule One: Don't Wander Off. Very important rule that, remember it...please?"

Oh who was she kidding? Five minutes and she'd vanish only to reappear either as a hostage or an embodiment of the local deity...sometimes both. Thus, she immediately gave up on any possible scenario where Rose stuck to Rule One and moved on to the next. "Rule Two: No getting involved. We are here to observe and partake but not to interfere, understand?"

"What, is that some time travel thing? Talk to the wrong person, suddenly the future king of some distant planet's never born?" She was being witty but the moment Rose said it she started to wonder just how right she might actually be, especially going off of how the Doctor's serious face hadn't let up. "Wait, you've actually done that?"

"It wasn't my fault!" And like that her firm expression dropped away to defensive, almost childish, whining. "She came on to me! I was just bein' polite and suddenly the Cloister Bell's ringing and-ooh that's interesting."

Attention deficient that one. One moment she was defending herself, the next she was staring at that tiny screen on the console as if it was the most important thing in the world. Curious, Rose sidled over to have a look as well. Whatever else it might have been, apparently the Doctor could also hack into the security of this ship because they were now looking at a little square with people milling around, old and young, grown ups and children, all going about their day. But then the Doctor tapped on something on the console and the image zoomed in on one child in particular who wasn't in a hurry to be anywhere, a little brunette girl in a red cardigan who was just sat down and silently crying.

"So..." Rose presently murmured, feeling even less comfortable now. "We just have a fun romp an' then swan off again?" 

"That's the plan." The Doctor replied softly "Unless we see something that needs fixin'."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah ha ha! Didn't see that comin' didja?! Well maybe you did. Okay some of you did. Anyway, it's up. See you in a bit.


	7. A Cry for Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I shouldn't be uploading. I wanted to finish the episode before posting, but Jodie was in a Fez and it was the most adorable thing I've seen in years.
> 
> Therefore, you may thank her for this newest update...or curse her if the chapter's not any good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right then, no sense wasting time. Onwards! To Mandy!

They stepped out, one after the other, onto the ship...except it really didn't look like much of any sci-fi ship Rose had ever been subject to during one of Mickey's binges. No amazing streamlined bridge where the captain gave commands or big screens where the crew chatted with the enemy crew before they got down to the business of shooting each other. No, if she was going to give a name to the place they'd landed, she'd say the Doctor had taken her to Queens Arcade and she said as much.

To which the slightly taller blonde just snorted. "Of course it does, this is a people's ship Rose, not a military vessel!"

That said though there was something off about this place, it was right there at the back of her head, something Floppy had discovered here with Amy but had locked away.  _Ugh! So many insecure idiots in this head!_  She still had eyes however and soon she was looking around, observing everything - the attitudes, the faces, their movements - and soon came to some very unnerving conclusions as they wandered through the London Market of Starship UK.

"Is it jus' me or is everyone in a hurry?" Rose muttered, dodging a bunch of hurried chaps in what could be business suits though she couldn't tell from their buttoned up coats. "Startin' to believe this is London, that's for sure. Nothin' like the mornin' rush."

"London in space." The Doctor agreed lightly, still looking around. "Everyone heading off somewhere. Where though? To work? Home? A fag break?"

"The bog?" Rose threw in lightly, before letting out another aggravated huff as another commuter, this one riding a bike, rushed by them with a barked order to move over. "Oh ta, mate! Bloody spaceship and traffic's still a menace."

"Never mind the bikes." The Doctor murmured, leaning against her and lowering her voice so what she'd spotted wouldn't catch on. "Something's wrong here, I can feel it, just beneath my...huh."

Her gaze slipped over to a couple of chaps sat down in a makeshift cafe, both of them working not to look at anyone or anything, and immediately dismissed them as irrelevant. What was interesting was their beverages. Glasses of water lying flat on the table...completely flat. What she'd felt beneath her feet suddenly slipped into place...or rather, what she'd  _not felt_.

"'S a smooth ride though." Rose noted. "Not a lot of noise, how many people're living here?"

"A hundred million, easy."

"That's some quality soundproofin' then." She muttered. Mickey's old garage band would've loved to get whatever it was that the people here were using to keep out the noise.

_Best I've ever been partial to as well._ But then, the Doctor was pretty sure what was behind the impeccable ride wasn't anything man made. She'd have to check to be sure though, a quick jaunt down to the engine rooms and she'd have all she needed to be certain. However, first they had to tend to the initial problem that had caught her attention and so she easily guided Rose back to the point. "One hundred million people, all of them going about their daily lives, but look deeper, see the truth."

Her cryptic talk got a frown out of Rose but she still did as she said, looking around at the people still scurrying about. Honestly nothing looked out of place, typical London traffic really right down to the frustrated cussing when something held them up...and only then now that she thought about it. Aside from that they barely said a word, they just ran, shooting worried glances around every now and again.

"'S like they're scared of somethin'."

"Precisely." The Doctor agreed, following the worried glances to the strategically placed booths that looked like fortune teller machines typically found in a carnival setting, all of them strategically placed around the market. "Police state. There's a secret here that we're not in on."

"How d'you figure that?"

"'Cos of her." And now she pointed to what, or rather who, she'd been looking for. The little girl the TARDIS had shown her on the scanner, still sat on a bench, crying her eyes out as silently as possible whilst the rest of town moved around her. "Rose, when you were a kid, how'd you get your mum's attention?"

"Eh?" Odd question, how did that figure in to what they'd been on about a moment ago? "Well, I nagged her mostly."

"And when that didn't work?"

"I screamed."

"And when that didn't work?"

"I...cried." Blimey, she'd been a right little terror now that she thought about it. And this was pre-Jimmy Stone. How had her mum ever put up with her? But hang on, why were they on about that? "What's that gotta do with a little girl cryin'?"

"Children cry because they want attention." The Doctor recited, a touch of maudlin nostalgia taking her over, "They cry if they're hurt too...or afraid...and its always noisy. But when they cry silently...well, you've been a kid."

Silent crying? It was almost hard for Rose to believe such a thing could exist for a kid that little girl's age, all her memories of her tantrums had been loud and messy and just what she needed to do to get her mum to do what she wanted her to do...not that it always worked. She'd cried when she was hurt as well and that had been loud, living on the Estate wasn't a breeze after all, she'd had the odd scraped knee here and there...but then there was that one time, with Darren Pye. That berk had scared her so bad that she'd run all the way back home and locked herself in her room where she'd balled her eyes out over Mr Tedopolus...and it hadn't been loud...she just couldn't stop.

"Any mother worth her salt knows a child crying silently is in desperate need of a cuddle." The Doctor finally spoke up, whether Rose had figured out what she was getting at or not wasn't relevant but she hoped she had, and besides it helped tamper down these strange new instincts of hers as she looked at the poor girl whose tears were going ignored by everyone. "But they aren't even asking her what's wrong. Ergo, they already know what's happened, meaning it's a thing they've accepted as normal. Secrets and shadows: They know and are scared that it'll happen to them too. Conclusion: Police state."

"You got that all from one little girl crying?" Rose asked, amazed despite the miserable subject they were covering.

"It's not that hard." She replied, eyes not leaving the poor little thing as she started to make her way towards her. "Crying is just a child's way of asking for help."

And with that she pushed ahead of Rose and made her way properly over towards the little girl who barely noticed her approach, barely able to stop her quiet sobs over whatever it was that had hurt her.  _Oh, poor thing._ Another wave of sympathy rushed over her that she didn't quite understand and it took all she had not to bundle the little one up and carry her off to the TARDIS for a hot chocolate and a blanket...maybe a biscuit or two along the way.

Instead, she merely stopped in front of her and knelt down so they were eye to eye and spoke softly to her. "Hi there. You alright?"

Her question shocked the little one out of her miserable little world, her tear-streaked face rising up to stare at her in shock as well as disbelief that anyone would ask her that. The Doctor merely smiled at her sadly. "Of course you're not. Here you are, sat on this bench, cryin' your eyes out. How could you possibly be okay?"

That summation got a sniffle out of her, the girl barely holding back another sob as her plight was lain out so simply. She'd expected that though, now it was a matter and expanding on what had hurt her. "What happened, sweetheart?"

"M-my friend...Timmy..." The girl stuttered out, another wave of tears setting up to drop as she did so. "H-he got a zero on his test and...and I told him to take the stairs but...but he..."

Uh-oh, stutter was getting worse, deep breaths coming. The Doctor knew the signs of a child trying to hold in their cries well enough and quickly rushed in to calm her, gently taking one of her little hands in her own, slowly running her thumbs over those tiny knuckles. "Hey, it's okay, it's okay...your friend's gone missing then?"

"N-Not missing." She got out, breathing deep in order to keep from losing it now that someone -  _anyone -_ was listening. "He got sent below."

"Below?" Now didn't that sound ominous? And why did that sound alarm bells in her head, as if something Floppy Hair had experienced was trying to get through to her? She'd punt herself in the skull but that'd scare the little one and she couldn't have that, so she simply asked. "Below where?"

"You know - below..." The girl trailed off again, disbelief clear that anyone could possibly not know what was happening on this ship. "Why don't you know?"

"Bit of a hermit, me. Haven't been out in ages." More convincing than she was a time travelling alien who was still dealing with a gender swap and had already done this once but couldn't remember how, all of which she compressed into a small shrug and grin. A grin that slightly shrank as she spotted the girl's eyes stray over to something behind her - one of those smiling things in the boxes going by the angle. "Sorry, what's your name?"

"Mandy. Mandy Tanner." Oh, sweet name too. Well that settled it.

"Well then!" She might have shocked Mandy Tanner, just a little bit, as she jumped back onto her feet (very stable, these boots, definitely keeping them) and beamed down at her. "Sounds like you need help, Mandy. And d'you know what? That's something I'm very good at, isn't that right, Rose?"

No reply. That was odd.

"Rose?" Her smile dropped as she spun around to find the space where she last saw her vacant, no sign of her in the crowd either.

_Oh no. Oh no no no no!_ She hadn't, she couldn't have! But scanning the stalls did no good, her scent lingered but it was decaying so at least the Doctor had that...but this was just so typical! "She's wandered off! Every time, every planet, she wanders off!"

* * *

_Asking for help._ Rose had never really thought about it like that before, but the way the Doctor said it you'd think it would be common knowledge. Had her mum seen it that way when she'd been inconsolable after Darren? She hoped so, considering just how much of a row they got into less than a year later over Jimmy. And now here she was, having jumped into a strange magic box with an odd woman who was now kneeling in front of the little girl, talking softly to her, and it suddenly hit Rose just what she'd done.

She'd run off, again, with a complete stranger and she hadn't told anyone. Suddenly she was looking around at this weird, patched-together version of London as if it was a cage. What was she doing here? Could she get back? Who even was the Doctor and why had she wanted her to come along?

Without conscious awareness, her legs began to pull her away from the slapdash market towards one of the numerous lifts that lined the ship walls guarded by those creepy smiling things - what were they anyway, robots? She just needed a minute, a moment to take stock of just where she was: Space ship UK with a problem that only she seemed to be blind to, hundreds of years in the future, led around by a woman she'd only just met, and she hadn't even phoned home.

_Deep breath._ She told herself, resting a palm on the wall.  _Just take a moment and breathe, breathing's good...okay..._  Panic attack coming to an end, she was fine. This wasn't a Jimmy situation, the Doctor hadn't made any sort of move like that, this was just her weird alien way of saying thanks for the save.

And besides, it wasn't that bad. Humans made it off Earth, were flying through space. That was amazing! Britain plastered together as one big spaceship? Barmy, but why not? Half an hour ago she'd been swinging around, kicking living plastic in the face...yeah she was still processing that. Alright, one more deep breath and she made to push off the wall and make her way back to the designated driver when-

"You travel with the Doctor."

Hushed though the voice was, it came out of nowhere and Rose was jumping around to face it. A figure clad in a glittering red cloak, hood drawn over their head and a white mask covering her face, all that could be seen of her being the dark brown eyes that stared at her with a fierce intensity that the rest of their being was lacking.

"Who are you?"

"That's not important." The person - a woman by the sound of it - cut off, glancing around quickly before locking back onto her. "You are Rose Tyler. You travel with the Doctor."

It was more a statement than a question, one that Rose found herself simply nodding at. Before she could ask how this stranger knew her name though, the woman grabbed her by the arm and all but thrust her into the nearby lift before she could even get the first protest out past her lips.

"Oi! What's the big idea?! Let go of me!" None of those demands were met though and before she could even call out for the Doctor the lift doors had shut and they were going down. "Take me back! Take me back right now!"

But the woman remained stoically calm, merely regarding her once and then returning her gaze forward towards the closed doors, and Rose was about to get set for another tirade when a loud audible ticking reached her ears and she turned to look behind her. It was another one of those creepy smiling things from the market, only its too-wide smile was being turned away - in fact the entire head was twisting around - to be replaced with the most stereotypical frowny face she'd seen outside of a kid's show.

"Do not give them a reason." Her kidnapper told her, still in that hushed voice, eyes still staring straight ahead. "The Smilers will remove anyone who acts outside of peaceful norms."

_Remove?_ And then Rose was hearing the Doctor calling this place a Police State and that comical frown starting looking a lot less cringey, were these things the ones doing the policing then? Sucking in a breath she backed away from the face and turned to do like her host - face the doors and stay quiet. Doing so seemed to be the right move because the moment she did that ticking crank began again, suggesting that the face had gone back to grinning.

"So who're you then?" Might as well know the name of the person who nicked her. But the woman remained silent. "Look, the Doctor's gonna come lookin' for me. She's not gonna be happy if she knows you took me."

Well, at least that was what she hoped would happen.

Her statement however finally got the masked woman to glance her way, those sharp eyes giving her a considering look, before assuring her. "You shall see the Doctor again. I had hoped to speak with her, but with so little time you will have to serve."

"Oh thanks." So she was the consolation prize, no change there then. "What's so important you'd wanna carry her off for?"

"You shall see." Was all the woman said and once more silence reigned within the too small lift with the creepy figure in the wall that Rose had the unnerving feeling was transmitting everything they were saying to someone else. That just made her wonder, if someone was watching them why hadn't those Smiler things gone for them yet? Couldn't be because of her, she was no one, so that meant it had to do with her...host? Was that the right word for it?

Before she could voice that though, the lift came to a halt and her question was lost in the brief vertigo of stoppage. The woman though barely seemed to feel it as she was striding out the doors the moment they opened leaving Rose to catch up in her wake - something told her the lift wasn't going to be working again any time soon. Staying a step behind her, she asked, "Where are we?"

"The engine room." The woman said - or spat, the first sign of emotion Rose had heard from her.

But that couldn't be right. "Can't be."

_It's too quiet._

"It is." She insisted, still sounding angry as she led the way down the silent corridors towards what looked like a dead end with all manner of cables and couplings and fuse boxes lining the walls. "This is where the truth shows itself."

"The wha'?" Did all space people talk in riddles or something? First the Doctor and now her. Never mind. Shaking her head at the dramatics, Rose paused as the masked woman stalked over to one of the boxes and flung it open.

"Look."

A simple word but it held the breath of a command which Rose felt compelled to obey - don't argue with your kidnappers and all that - and so she stepped cautiously over, keeping the woman in her sight until she could look inside... "The hell?"

Time spent with Mickey and his crew of mechanics might not have filled her with all the know-how of how to put a car back together, but she still knew that, if you wanted something to work, it helped if things were plugged in. So why were all the wires in this box hanging loose?

At her shocked utterance though, the woman had moved away again, fishing out some of the couplings. "Disconnected."

And then one of the cables. "No power."

And all Rose could do was stare in shock. "But...that can't be right...this stuff ain't spare parts, it oughta be all wired up. And this place..." this eerily silent engine deck where there was no sound whatsoever, "it should be deafenin'."

"And yet...silence."

"But that can't be..." She said again, her confused thoughts turning disbelieving as what little she had pulled her to one ending. "That'd mean there's-"

"-No engine at all." The woman said with her. "The Impossible Truth, Rose Tyler. We are flying through space in a ship that can never fly."

_But that's...!_ 'Insane' was what she'd been about to finish that thought with but Rose caught it just before it could be turned into words. Insanity had made up the last forty-eight hours of her life, what was a little more? Was this what the Police State was hiding? But something this big, to hide from a hundred-million people... "But people must've noticed."

"Some do." The woman agreed with a hard nod, something glinting angrily in her eyes, "And then they are never seen again. My subjects live in fear, Rose Tyler, not peace...and we need help."

_Right..._ not daunting at all, that. Mysterious woman asking a girl who lived on an estate in the past for help...how desperate were they exactly? But not just that, something else was bugging her. "How d'you know my name?"

But with her message delivered, it seemed that there was no more for them to discuss as the woman began to push off in a completely new direction. Rose however just stood her ground, she was frankly done following odd women around for one day. "Oi! At least gimme a name for the Doctor! How're we s'posed to find ya?"

That stopped her, and the figure turned back to face her. The mask prevented a read on what her demand might have triggered in the woman, but at the very least she was looking at her. For a moment one regarded the other...until at last the robed woman replied, still hushed. "I am Liz Ten and I will find you. Take the Vator back to London."

And with that, accompanied with a twirl of her cloak that had to come from the Enigmatic Textbook, she swept away into the bowels of this impossible ship leaving a very confused Rose Tyler in her wake.

_Right...so the ship doesn't have an engine but it's still moving and the ship itself is being run by fear._ Secrets and shadows the Doctor had said, well at least she was in on them now. And colour her curious but now she wanted to know how this ship was getting about the stars without a motor. Well, first things first, get back to London and tell the Doctor of her little adventure-slash-kidnapping by the Red Riding Hood cosplayer.

Which meant going back into the lifts. That didn't make her very happy but then Rose didn't have the first clue about getting around this place so what choice did she have?  _Note to self, get the Doctor's number._ So, after retracing her steps back to where they started, she called one and promptly got onto the first pair of doors that opened, ignoring the frowning Smiler as best she could.

_I'm never gonna look at_ _children's dolls the same way again._ Those faces might look cute on a little baby doll but on a full life size one? It just creeped her out that anyone in her government (future or not) would think they were a good idea...then again maybe that was the point. It certainly grated on her nerves whenever their heads started ticking, turning around in that unnatural way, and she'd only seen it once.

And then she heard it, the tick-tick-ticking of the gears inside those heads signifying a changing mood. Had she been acting out? Quickly Rose tried to adopt a more sedate stance...but the ticking kept on. Why? What was she doing wrong? Well aside from the obvious, finding out the ship shouldn't work would do that, but Liz Ten had implied that this was a safe way up! Standing still did nothing, if anything the ticking just got louder and louder.

Tick. Tick. Tick! TICK! THUNK!

"Alright! What's the problem?!" She finally blurted out, coming around to glare at the Smiler in the booth and then immediately jumping back, her words dying on her lips.

It was only then that she remembered the Smiler's face had already been that stupid frown. Now though she found herself wanting that back. Instead of those disappointed blue eyes, there were two orbs of furious red and the mouth had opened in an impossibly wide angry snarl, baring inch long teeth. If it wasn't behind the glass Rose was sure it would have launched itself at her.

She barely heard the ding of the lift, her heart thumping too loud in her ears for that, but she saw the doors open out of the corner of her eye and she immediately made a break for it before whoever it was that'd been listening in decided to do to her what they did to everyone else who had disappeared.

But because she was keeping her eyes on the Smiler, Rose didn't see the robed figures right in front of her who grabbed her the moment she stepped out of the lift, the foremost of whom grabbed her in a vice hold. At first she tried to struggle free, but the others quickly surrounded her and before she could scream something got blown in her face and she knew no more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well...that escalated quickly.


	8. Democracy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some people like it. Some hate it. Some abuse it. 
> 
> And some use it to justify torture...I really wish I was talking about the Star Whale here.

"Really, I should put a bell on her. Least that way, when she goes off on a wander and scares me into m'next body, I'll have a decent warning!" 

The Doctor had been rambling for the better part of fifteen minutes now, much to the consternation of many passers by and the confusion and concern of little Mandy Tanner at her side. But could anyone blame her? Ten minutes into their first adventure together (in this timestream) and Rose had wandered off to have Rassilon knew what done to her. This had to at least be Blitz levels of Jeopardy Friendliness, maybe even Satellite Five Anne-Droid! 

Really, she should be commended for not panicking. And she wasn't panicking - the Doctor didn't panic - she was just...concerned. Yes, concerned! That's the word! Deeply concerned because she had just lost Rose again after only just getting her back as a result of a faulty regeneration that made no sense and couldn't have happened at all which meant this couldn't really be real which meant Rose was just a dream which meant this was where the dream turned into a nightmare and the next time she saw her she'd be half-Cyberman or something.

Nope, no reason to panic whatsoever.

 _Alright think it through._ Thinking helped, if she could go through what she knew she could find her. Mandy was crying because her friend had been sent 'below,' whatever that meant, the people here were living in fear of that happening to them, those things in the booths seemed to police the ship and glassed water wasn't rippling at all...in fact there were no vibrations on deck whatsoever.  _No vibrations means no power, no power means no engine...meaning this ship is impossible._

"Mandy!" Dropping back down to her knees so they were level again, the Doctor fixed her new little friend with as serious a stare as she could manage. "I can't think here, too many things crammin' my brain. Anywhere we can go? Somewhere quiet?"

"What about your friend?" Mandy asked, justifiably confused that she'd just leave whoever it was she'd lost to her fate.

But the Doctor just shook her head, trying to keep the anxiety regarding Rose under control. "Can't help her if I can't think. Need to be somewhere that's not here, my brain'll settle down then," hopefully, but she didn't say that choosing instead to nudge the little girl gently "so c'mon, little thing like you. Gotta have some little hidey holes on this ship, eh Noot?"

"Well..." She glanced around again, more innocently this time though her eyes did still trail over to the smiley things in the booths, then snapped back to face the Doctor. "We could go down to my place."

"Your place? Good, off we go then!" That'd do. And with that she was back on her feet, marching off towards the nearest lift leaving poor little Mandy, still reeling from the mood whiplash, run after her. "Crashin' at Mandy's! Never done that before. You got any biscuits at your place, Mandy? Only I'm really cravin' a custard creme."

"Wait!" Little Mandy finally caught up with her as she started insistently pressing the call button only to get no response whatsoever. "You can't just use a Vator! You need permission."

Permission to use a lift? The Doctor turned to look at her with the highest of incredulity. "Well that's rubbish. Who thought that up?"

"I dunno, it's just always been like that." More nervous glancing around...and was it her or did the Doctor detect a low ticking just off to her left? Clockwork by the sound of it...but not nearly the right tone for a clock.

_Resonance is too deep, meaning the mechanism is big... "Six feet I'd say...size of a man..."_

Her memories were knocked aside though by the sound of rummaging around just beneath her, the Doctor tuned back in to see Mandy digging through her shoulder bag for something. Probably whatever they needed to use the lift. "Why d'you have permission?"

"I got a 100 on my last test." She replied, not looking up from her searching. "I've got access to the Vators for a month."

"Same test your friend Timmy got a Zero on?" 

Her silence and ducked head was all the answer the Doctor needed. Classic Carrot-Stick indoctrination then: Do well on the things we want you to, rewarded; Do bad on them, or conversely start suggesting something outside of the norm, punishment. And they did it to  _children._

 _Whoever's behind this better have a really good excuse for all this._ Suddenly she found herself glaring at the stupid smiling face in the booth. Giving up the Oncoming Storm was something she intended to stand by...but things like this made for a very cloudy day indeed.

"Hold on t'your stamps, Mandy." The Doctor told her, pulling out her sonic and pointing it at the call button. There was a buzz and suddenly there was movement from below them. Seconds later, the doors opened and she ushered the now very nervous little girl inside, only to be met by another stupid grin.

"You can't do that!" Mandy protested, her eyes not once leaving the face. "The Smilers won't like it!"

"Well I just did so no sense complaining about it." She retorted, filing the name away as she came around to hide the Smiler from Mandy's view showing only her back to it. "Now, what floor's your place on?"

But little Mandy had locked down, fearful eyes seeing through her to the comical face in the booth behind her. Poor girl had to be expecting it to lunge out and take them both for daring to voice an opinion about this place. And who could blame her? Considering how the Doctor had found her, she'd clearly given up any chance of anyone coming to do anything about it.

"Mandy." Leaning down, hands on her knees, the Doctor softened her tone but maintained her firm intentions, getting her to look her in the eye. "There's something very wrong on this ship, I felt it the moment I arrived here and you've known it all your life. Now I'm gonna find a way to stop it, but I need you to help me do it."

For a moment, disbelief continued to reign Mandy's face, as if she couldn't believe anyone let alone a complete stranger could do anything about this ship...and then she saw it - there it was, just beginning to flicker to life in those little innocent eyes - belief, trust...maybe even hope. Trust a child to believe her faster than adults. She didn't need to say anything, the Doctor had what she needed, and so she merely asked Mandy again. "What deck's your deck?"

"207." She replied, nervous to be sure but now her attention was set squarely on the Doctor. "Apple Sesame Block."

At her utterance, the Vator came to life and they began to descend, leaving London behind. They made the trip in silence, the Doctor keeping between Mandy and the Smiler all the time to keep her calm, whilst at the same time promising herself over and over again that doing this would bring her one step closer to finding Rose. Another thing to consider was this place itself, why had the TARDIS brought them here for Rose's first jaunt? Was there something she was forgetting about this place that She thought Rose could benefit from? Without her memories of the first go around save for the odd foreboding feeling, it was hard to say.

She was saved from further thought about that by a screen on the button panel suddenly coming to life, showing the face of a little girl reciting some strange old limerick.

_"A horse and a man, above, below._

_One has a plan, but both must go._

_Mile after mile, above, beneath._

_One has a smile, and one has teeth._

_Though the man above might say hello,_

_expect no love from the Beast Below."_

"Well, that's a bit dramatic." The Doctor muttered out loud, glancing over at Mandy and noticing how she was shuddering at every line as it was delivered. Another scare tactic then...and yet, something about the lines struck a chord with her...as if she should know what they meant but the details were just out of reach. More of Floppy Hair not dealing, she suspected.

As such she devoted a small part of her mind to working out the lines and what they meant to her, retaining the rest for everything else. Not a moment too soon it would seem as, only a couple of seconds after the screen switched back off, the Vator came to a halt and the doors opened to a dimly lit, dirty corridor with any number of twists and turns. For Mandy though it looked as if she'd reached Nirvana as she dashed out of the small confined space as if the devil itself was on her tail. 

Curious, but not letting on, the Doctor followed her out and let her lead them around the dusty paths. "Honestly, this place could do with a decent clean. Where are we, Nottingham or somethin'? What's the council wasting all its money on?"

All she got from her attempt at small talk was an offended huff from her guide and that was it. Well at least she wasn't worrying about the Smilers coming to get them now, so points. That only lasted a few minutes though as they turned off of the main road into the Lace Market and then onto Dean Street where Mandy came to a halt. Directly ahead of them, right outside Magpie Electricals, was a striped workman's hut covering up...something, separated from them by a standard police barrier and caution signs. 

"What's this then?" 

"There's a hole." Mandy said, as if that explained everything though the Doctor noted her voice was now nervous. "We have to go back."

"A hole in the road?" That cinched it, definitely Nottingham. Trust the boffins in charge to waste taxpayers' money on something fancy when they should be fixing potholes...but potholes caused by what? Ooh, now she was curious. She only got one foot forward though before Mandy was pulling on her arm.

"We can't go that way!" She insisted, worried eyes glancing away - Smiler nearby then - before turning back to her. "There's a travel pipe back by the airlocks, we can go that way. I've got stamps and-"

But the Doctor had already whizzed back around, barged passed the 'Keep Out' sign, and was inspecting the tent.  _Don't remember a tent. Must not've come this way last time. Oh, that's exciting! Something I missed out on!_ Oh now she had to see what was inside. A cursory examination of the front doors though just had her raising her eyebrows. 

"Question: There's a hole in the road which repair chaps've come to fix up, bringing along all the 'Do Not Disturb' stuff so they can get on with it." Fingers tracing the red and white laminated coverings pulled shut by a small interlocking rope - a simple pulley - until they stopped at the oddity. "So why is it padlocked?"

"I dunno." Mandy muttered, eyes jumping away again and staying there. "Maybe they're on a break."

"Maybe, maybe." The Doctor nodded, as good a reason as any...but...nah. And so she went back to it, Sonic out in seconds, pointed at the padlock and buzzing away. "So, Starship UK, where people are scared of the downstairs and smiley faces are the stuff of nightmares. What does the rest of the EU think of this?"

"Haven't seen the European Fleet in years." Mandy replied, frowning at the subject change enough to face her again. "There was a people's vote during the first decade whether we should stick with them or not."

"And of course you voted Leave." Really, the answer was so bloody obvious the Doctor wondered why she'd even bothered to ask. Ruddy typical British stuck-uppity-ness. It was enough for her to pause her work and give her little friend her scrunchy face of incomprehension. "And who swung that vote? No wait, never mind, I can guess: A bunch of rich snobs and old folks, right?"

Well it answered the question as to why the UK was out here on its own at least.

Rolling her eyes, she got back to work. The sonic screwdriver came back to life as she continued to buzz it, pausing every so often to switch the settings - now she remembered why she switched to telepathic in the first place - until at last she got the right one and the padlock fell free. "Come on then if you're comin'."  

"No!" Apparently snooping into unfinished workplaces was a stretch too far as Mandy backed up right away, her violent denial just covering up a growing ticking just out of sight. 

In response the Doctor merely shrugged. "See ya, then!" 

And with that parting remark, she dove under the cover to see what it was she'd missed the first time round. The first thing she noted about the place was it was dark, really dark, almost 'lets keep a secret by turning out the lights and then sticking a tent on top of it' dark but she didn't want to jump to conclusions. But for the flashing outside it was nearly impossible to see anything in here, however what light there was that managed to get through, it was quickly blocked out by a tall, rising...thing directly ahead.

"Oh...now what are you?" She needed a light now, whatever that was it needed to be seen! Fumbling around in the dark, the Doctor's fingers at last landed on what felt like an old-style wind-up torch...yep, there was the winder. Picking it up, she lurched onto her feet and slowly stepped up, winding the torch up as she did and shining the growing light ahead of her.

Broken bits of road were the first things to be seen...and then...

"Oh...but you are..." It was a tentacle, a giant, looming, writhing tentacle, growing out of the ship. A giant looming tentacle, writhing about, with a long sharp talon on the end... "What are you doing here then?"

The Doctor's amazed whispering was cut off though as, moments after she spoke, the giant pointy tentacle came ramming down right at her, forcing her to jump out of the way. "Okay! Don't like questions, more the private type. I get that."

But her backtracking didn't stop the lunging as the talon came smashing down again right in front of her, forcing the Doctor even further away. And again it came down, ramming into the road right in the same place for a third time. And then a forth, ragged attempt in the same spot. And another, and another...and suddenly the Doctor wasn't backing up from these acts of aggression...if they were aggressively intended at all...

Something was niggling her...something at the back of her head...pushing through...she knew this...if she could just...think...

"Get outta there!" 

And just like that her concentration was lost as another voice, older than Mandy's, sounded out before she was viciously pulled out of the workman's hut and tossed away from it as well as her near remembrance of something important. Frustration ruled her and she quickly straightened up to glare at her 'rescuer' who was busy locking the tent up again. "What'd you do that for?! I was on to somethin'!"

But the figure, clad in a red cloak and turned away from her, barely reacted. Only when they were sure that whatever that tentacle was couldn't get out did they turn to her, revealing a blank white porcelain face save only for the eyes that stared at her with what she could only figure was exasperation.

"The stories for your significant lack of self preservation are apparently not stories, Doctor." She said by way of introduction, her earlier raised voice traded in for a hushed whisper and flat accent. 

The Doctor would've retorted against that but Mandy's scared gasp caught her attention first, alerting her to the loud angry ticking off to the side. Apparently the Smiler really hadn't approved of her snooping around because it wasn't just frowning but instead snarling at her and in the distance she could make out heavy footfalls coming their way.

"Quickly!" The newcomer ordered, grabbing an arm each of the pair and dragging them away from the hole in the road. And not a moment too soon because just as they vanished from the Smiler's sight, a group of five hooded figures arrived on the scene, inspecting the area before turning to converse silently with each other and gather orders from above.

From their hiding space, the Doctor watched it all unfold. "Who're these chaps then?"

"The Winders." The newcomer told her, a low hint of bitter hostility just touching her tone. "They maintain the Smilers and insure all trespassers are summarily vanished, ensuring the continued peaceful stability of Starship UK."

"Not so stable if you need monkey-monks like them runnin' around." She observed watching as the group began to disperse, heads bobbing this way and that in a bid to find their missing quarry. 

The woman didn't relax in their absence though, her eyes fixing on the Smiler that was still scowling straight ahead. "There will be more. This way, quickly."

"No wait - hang on!" The Doctor dug in her heels, keeping hold of the little girl she knew even as the stranger she didn't began to push off. "We were going to Mandy's! I've never been to Mandy's! And more to the point, something's happened to Rose."

Maybe it was the finality in her tone that did it, or the fact that this person, whoever she was, had something to do with Rose's disappearance. Either way the woman stopped and came about, her visible eyes assessing her statement behind the mask, not that she needed to. If this journey took her away from finding Rose she wasn't going anywhere with her, those stories she mentioned should've mentioned that.

Evidently they did as the woman let out an impatient huff and dug into a bag beneath her cloak. A moment later she chucked a small device into the Doctor's waiting hand, a screen with a blinking dot on it pinging every few seconds. "I have been monitoring her, she is alive."

"But not safe." Because when did Rose Tyler ever do the safe thing? 

"Which is why we must hurry." The woman said again, resuming her march. "If her mind is anything like yours, Doctor, she is in great danger."

* * *

The world came back to her a piece at a time, though Rose's memories of the events that brought her here were a bit more of a task. She remembered that she got kidnapped...or maybe just brought along to be shown something, whichever it was there had been a woman in a mask who had shown her that the ship couldn't possibly fly - no engine, that was it, needed to tell the Doctor that if she was done playing Mum - and then it all got a bit groggy.

 _I was back in the lift...heading back for London and then..._ And then she got kidnapped again. This time by chaps in black hoods, probably the ones the woman - Liz Ten she said her name was - was working against. There was a smell...something sweet and then she was waking up here. Wherever here was.

Pulling herself up, the first thing Rose properly saw had her lurching back. Another Smiler, this one still wearing the grin but she could still remember the angry glare from before.  _Bollocks._

Getting up from her seat - she'd been put in a chair and not tied down, not very good kidnappers this lot - Rose put as much distance between herself and that stupid porcelain head as she could until she came up flat against a wall. Instinctively she came around, looking for a possible way out. What she'd bumped against turned out to be a door, smooth metal surrounded on all sides by brick. In another life she'd have commented on how hipster that was.

As it was though she just started banging on the door. "Oi! Let me outta here!" 

Silence met her on the other side and worry started to set in, urging her to pound on the door again and calling for help...but none came. She was stuck in here on her own, with that creepy face, and no sign of the Doctor. Part of her wanted to phone the police and report a kidnapping, twice over now, but what good would that do when it was the police themselves who'd kidnapped her? How long had she even been here? Was the Doctor even still looking for her? 

Worry was about to turn into panic when an automated voice started up, drawing her attention away from the door and back to the room itself.

_"Welcome to Voting Cubicle 330-C. Please leave this installation as you would wish to find it."_

Voting cubicle, is that what they called them these days? Hardly private what with the grinning idiot watching over her, but now Rose had something else to focus on she noted for the first time that there was more than the Smiler and the chair she'd woken up in. Across from the chair were four old style TV sets, all of them lined up next to each other and beneath them three buttons - two circular on either side of a larger rectangular one - labelled, from left to right, FORGET, RECORD and PROTEST.

 _Forget what?_ Was this the thing then? The reason why there was no engine, the thing behind the Police State? Despite herself, curiosity set in and Rose returned to the seat. This was a very odd kidnapping, who nabbed you and then gave you all of their secrets?

Ahead of her, the voice droned on. _"A presentation concerning the history of Starship UK will begin shortly. Your identity is being verified on our electoral roll."_

Well fat lot of good that'd do her, this was the future, it wasn't as if she'd still be on the roll hundreds of years after she'd- _"Rose Marion Tyler."_

"Wha?" She couldn't help her gasp, what was she still doing on record? She'd been dead for centuries by this year's reckoning. 

 _"Age."_ The machine went on, pausing for a second as it gathered the necessary data. _"...Thirteen hundred and eight."_

"Get out..." And now she was grinning, this was barmy! This computer thought she was over a thousand years old...and looking pretty good on it.  _Oh Mum'd love that._

 _"Marital status..."_ Oh, no, she didn't want to know the answer to that one! As such, she plugged her ears and looked away, there was no way in hell she was letting a computer tell her if she'd gone and gotten hitched since she went on this mad little jaunt.

When she felt she'd given the computer enough time she turned back to face the screen, which had now turned off the text and had replaced it with a recorded clip. An aged chap, with glasses and a white beard stared back at her, in front of the Union Flag, with weary and broken eyes.

 _"You are here because you want to know the truth about this starship,"_ he began, a solemn tone in his voice as he did so, as if that truth was so horrible he hated himself for even showing her but was resolutely going to do it anyway, _"and I am talking to you because you're entitled to know. When this presentation has finished, you will have a choice. You may either protest or forget."_

Well that made the buttons clearer, but something still bothered Rose. If they had a right to know the truth...why was everyone so scared? As if knowing her thoughts, the man went on. _"If you choose to protest, understand this: If just One percent of the population of this ship do likewise, the programme will be discontinued with consequences for you all."_

 _So that's it. Vote 'No' if you want but you'll die if you do._ Bloody fine print, it was things like this that got her mum and her friends ranting about Parliament and the Council and all the other things the Government did to stay in power...and she was living in a Labour Government! 

 _"If you choose to accept the situation, and we hope that you will,"_ the man went on, still as solemn as ever, _"then press the Forget button. All the information I'm about to give you will be erased from your memory. You will continue to enjoy the safety and amenities of Starship UK, unburdened by the knowledge of what has been done to save you."_

So they really were just going to tell her everything? Why then did Rose suddenly feel very uneasy about what she was about to see? If the knowledge was open to the public, why the Police State? Was the truth really that bad? The man went on. _"Here then, is the truth about Starship UK, and the price that has been paid for the safety of the British people...may God have mercy on our souls."_

And then the presentation began...and Rose couldn't look away. Not when she saw how they had left the Earth, not when she saw what they did to keep going, not even when she saw why they'd done what they had to do to survive...she couldn't stop. 

For twenty minutes, she just couldn't stop staring at it...

How could they? 

"Rose?!" A sudden rapping on the door just managed to get through to her brain and she emptily turned to stare at it. That voice...she knew that voice from somewhere...the person who brought her here, showed her what her country had turned into. "Rose are you in there?"

The Doctor hit the door again. "C'mon, Rose, it's me! The door's locked on my end, can you open it on yours?"

"It won't open until she casts her vote." Her guide - Liz Ten as she'd finally introduced herself as - told her. "Unless she chooses to forget or protest the door won't open."

"Forget?" As a woman dealing with memory problems herself right now that sat pretty poorly with the Doctor, enough so that she turned back around from the door to interrogate her two locals. "Why would you choose to forget?"

"Because everyone does." Mandy answered, as if that was the most obvious thing in the world - maybe it was, how would she know. "Anyone over sixteen can see the video and then make their choice, and then again every five years."

"So every five years everyone chooses to forget what they've learned about themselves?" She couldn't help it, the Doctor shook her head in amazement at how far the human race would go to stick its head in the sand. "Why would they do that? What secret could be so important that everyone chooses to forget?"

"'S not important." A hollow voice whispered from behind the door - when had she moved over to them? - causing the Doctor to spin back around to it and the girl behind it. "It's awful...what they did...Doctor, it's horrible. I can't...can't even...why?"

That broken voice...she knew that one...had been witness to it on a beach one terrible day...why now? What had done that to her? What had she been shown? 

"Rose?" She asked as gently as she could, resting an ear against the door to hear her as best she could, making out the sniffles of a crying Rose just beyond. "What did you see?"

But she couldn't answer, it was too horrible. "I can't...they did..." Taking a breath to get herself under control again, Rose pushed away from the door. "Doctor they can't get away with it."

"They won't, I promise they won't." Now she needed to get inside, broken though her voice may be the Doctor could recognise the growing determination in it - could imagine that was how Rose was after Bad Wolf Bay the first time. And now she was about to do something insane and brave and so  _so_ Rose Tyler and there was this silly wall in the way! "Rose, just help me open the door and we can get on with that."

"No door knob." She muttered automatically, backing away from the wall until she was face to face with the screens and the three buttons again. "Gotta make a choice."

 _'If you choose to accept the situation, and we hope that you do, press the Forget button.'_ Well she couldn't do that because she absolutely did not agree with what they'd done, that was a living breathing creature they'd done all that to, even if what they'd done had saved the UK. A hundred million people living on the sufferance of another... and they'd all chosen not to know it. That was the worst of it: They'd all decided to ignore it.

 _Well I can't._ It was odd, this sudden determination. She should be frozen but, just like with the Nestene Consciousness, it was as if Rose knew what she had to do. And so, even as the Doctor pleaded with her to open the door, she found herself moving over to the panel. 

"So, I just hafta push one of these buttons an' the door opens, yeah?" 

"Rose - Rose, don't!"

"See ya in a minute then."

And with that, Rose slammed her palm onto the PROTEST button.

 _Oh no, Rose, what've you done?!_ Panic set in the Doctor's hearts the moment she heard that simple dismissal. It only got worse as her more sensitive ears heard a firm  _clank!_ signifying the door locking itself even tighter.  _Oh no no no!_ The sonic was out in record speed and buzzing against where she hoped the locks were, only to come back negative. "Deadlock! Why is it always a deadlock?! Rose, get to the door!"

"Bit late for that." Came the flippant reply, tinged though it was with fear, and only now did she notice that the deck was suddenly vibrating for the first time since they'd been here. Something was going on beyond those doors that she couldn't see. "See ya then, Doctor."

_"EX-TER-MIN-ATE!"_

_"You ARE the Weakest Link. Goodbye."_

_"HOLD ON!"_

It was happening again! Why was it happening again?! Rose was trapped with no wait out and here she was on the other side of the wall and she couldn't get to her! Why a wall!? Why was it always a wall?!

 _There's gotta be something!_ Desperately she looked around for something she could sonic, a power conduit, a circuit board,  _anything!_

"There!" On top, she could make out a fuse box, take that out and Rose would be safe.  _She has to be!_

There wasn't time to climb up so she just pointed the sonic screwdriver at the box, getting it open and then again to overload the fuses inside. If she was just quick enough...

But then there was a scream from inside the voting booth, loud and then echoing...down...down...Below. 

The door to the voting booth finally swung open and the fuse box was immediately forgotten as the Doctor rushed in and came to an empty halt...it was empty, just the screen, the chair, and the Smiler. But no Rose...she was gone again...

"She protested..." She could barely hear Mandy's shocked awe, "she's been sent Below..."

Below, like Timmy. Mandy's friend got sent below and now he was gone, lost, like Rose. For a moment the Doctor was in shock. Rose, lost...she'd lost Rose again after barely finding her...below, sent below like Timmy...sent below...down...below...Below!

"Below!" Shock finally gave way as an idea began to form. It was a terrible idea, mind, dangerous and stupid...but Rose did it first so she'd just blame her when she found her again. Spinning around, she fixed Liz Ten with a hard look. "Can you still track her?"

For a moment it looked as if Liz had been caught off guard, she didn't have time to know if she had right now, but she quickly gathered herself and pulled out her little gizmo again. After a quick look she nodded. "She's still sending a signal."

"Right then. Meet me there."

"Meet where?" 

Oh it was nice to finally hear some confusion in the lady, and she'd take time to preen over it later. Right now though there was a jeopardy-friendly companion that needed a scolding. Therefore, she just gave her two new friends a grin before uttering that word herself - "Below!" - and slammed her palm onto the PROTEST button. 

Immediately the door slammed shut again, locking Mandy and Liz out, and the stupid smiling face turned around to favour its angrier side. She barely acknowledged it though as, the moment the scowly face locked in, the ground beneath her feet began to open up, revealing a massive ominous pit...or a shoot, depending on your angle. 

"Ready or not, Rose Tyler! Here I come!"

And with that, the Doctor jumped off the still opening floor into the darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so funny story. Amy's age according to the roster is 1,306...but the screens, in a bout of plot not meeting the script, say 1,308. I only just did the math to work out Rose's age by the database of 3,295...and it was 1,308. Now there's a Bad Wolf for ya.
> 
> How'd I work it out?  
> Amy is 21 in Beast Below. Minus that from 1306 to get 1285, this is the gap between 2010 and the current present.  
> 2010 + 1285 = 3295. We have our year.  
> 3295 works nicely, because its only 1290 years ahead of Rose's present of 2005. Now, assuming she's 18 years old (I know in 'Dalek' the Doctor says she's 19, but I'm assuming he's taking 2006 into account there. Apparently she was 6 months old when Pete died in November 1987 so that means she was born in the same year which means she's 18 in 'Rose'), simply add 1290 and whaddaya get? 
> 
> 1308\. 
> 
> What were you hiding, Moffat?


	9. Liz Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Woo! Officially made 1337 status!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today's notes are the assurance that there aren't any notes.

The scream she let out when she fell gave out after the first couple of seconds, replaced instead by a long lasting yell, almost a whoop if she had been in any way excited about this...fall? Slide? Rose didn't know what to really call it, but the rough ride had begun to smooth out as she continued to fall until she could feel her bum resting against the metal shoot. So a slide then, followed by a sudden blast from behind her that had her hurtling forwards until suddenly the slide wasn't there at all and she went streaming into something soft and slimy.

_Ugh..._ she wrinkled her nose in disgust after taking her first deep breath upon landing.  _Make that soft, slimy and reeking!_

The whole place stank to high heaven! Like the waste bin outside the Estate back home on Sundays. Rose seriously didn't want to take another breath but she had to, and breathing through her mouth wasn't instinctive, giving her another dose of the pong. Oh it almost sent her falling back into the muck as she tried to stumble back onto her feet, the uneven ground alone making it a problem never mind the slobber.

She had just about found some semblance of balance on her feet again when another loud gust behind her heralded a new arrival, accompanied with what actually sounded like a rather excited cry. That was all the warning she got before a short blonde missile came flying out of the shoot she'd been deposited from and came slamming into her sending them both down into the refuse pile together in a mass of limbs, plus another lovely layer of spittle.

Coughing up some of her own at the sudden winding she'd received, Rose peered up at her fellow prisoner and almost gawked at who it was. "Doctor?!"

The woman in question smiled back, wiping her drenched locks behind her ears. "Hi!"

"Whatta you doin' here?!" 

"Well you seemed to enjoy the ride," she said back with a light shrug, doing her best to hide her relief at finding her alive and not...well not alive, "figured I'd give it a shot, see what all the fuss was about."

"Wha'...?" Questions atop of confusion turned to frustration and Rose made to shove her off. "You mind gettin' off?"

_Eh?_ Peering down, the Doctor quickly cottoned on - apparently she'd ended up sitting on her again - and suddenly started fumbling back onto her feet, helped along by Rose's insistent shoving. Although that almost sent her falling backwards on this giant slippery floor. "Hey, steady on! This place doesn't feel all that stable."

"Not stable, she says." Rose scoffed, as if she hadn't noticed that herself thank you! "So glad I have you to tell me these things."

"Well, someone fell out of the wrong side of the air cannon." Speaking of which, the Doctor suddenly came about and ran the screwdriver over her doing a basic check which reported nothing wrong. Good, that was good. She could be annoyed with her now without feeling guilty. "And while we're on that, mind explaining your little protest?"

"Can we put a pin in that?" Rose picked up the sharp tone and no nonsense stance from years of the same thing from her mother. Too bad for the Doctor then that: A) She wasn't her mother; B) She'd had years to develop an immunity to that kind of talk; and C) That stance really didn't work when she was, quite literally, covered in drool. 

In response though the Doctor just dug in her heels (though not too hard, she didn't want to topple over again), hands on hips, and continued to fix her most disapproving frown on her back as she started looking for a way out. "What, put a pin in you tossin' your life away without a second thought? Could do...but then again, nah."

_Seriously?_ They were in the ass end of an impossible ship that was trying to kill them and she wanted to talk about her antics? "Well I'm not dead, so it all worked out."

"Oh yes, wonderful that." The Doctor agreed sarcastically with an accompanying eye-roll. "And what if you'd been blasted out into space? Did you think of that before you pressed the button?"

"You're one to talk." Rose retorted, coming around to face her with her own incredulous stare. "What were you thinkin', comin' down here?"

"I think that's my line." She said back, stare switching for a scowl. "There was a perfectly nice Forget button, but nooo, Rose Tyler has to be the good girl!"

"I wasn't just gonna forget what they did!" 

"Oh no, 'cos where we are is so much better than a touch of temporary amnesia!"

"Oh god, you're worse than my mum!"

"I'm the Doctor, I'm worse than everybody's mum!" She snapped furiously...and then paused as her declaration caught up with her brain and her scowl swapped out for an embarrassed frown. "That...sounded better in my head."

_Yeah?_ That loud statement had shut Rose down for a moment, purely because of how ludicrous it had sounded. And now that they had a moment of silence, something started to bubble out of her lips, tipping her own glare back upwards into an unwilling smile accompanied by an amazed giggle at this ridiculous woman. For a moment the Doctor looked at her with befuddled amazement - how could she laugh at a time like this? - before she too took stock of exactly where they were and found herself chuckling as well. 

Look at them. Toss into the bowels of a ship that couldn't possibly fly, landing on a big wet slippery thing, covered in gods knew what, and they were stopping to have a row over who was the bigger idiot. It was hilarious!

_Bloody, jeopardy friendly companions!_ She couldn't help thinking, staring fondly at the girl who embodied the trend who was laughing at the madness around them. 

Settling down first, the Doctor finally took her eyes of Rose to have a look around herself. "Alright, so where did we land exactly? What's this?" 

Dropping down onto her knees, she started inspecting the pile of refuse they'd become part of. Stinky refuse, but not artificially stinky. "Organic - food waste only. A few tons worth at least. And what're you?"

Shoving the piles of dinner leftovers away, she pushed her way down to the actual floor they'd landed on. She'd coined the right word when they landed, unstable...but sort of rubbery, and soaking in a thick gloopy liquid. "Food plus saliva...oh my! This is a-!"

"Tongue." Rose cut her off, it was a pretty easy guess considering what she'd seen. "We're in its mouth."

"Its mouth?" Right, the video, of course Rose knew what was going on. She was about to go further and ask just what 'It' was, when suddenly the whole giant thing lurched marginally upwards. Slippery and shaky as it was, the pair were both flung off their feet again back into the waste.

"What's happening?" Rose called out, trying to keep her head above the now piling scraps. 

"Swallow reflex!" The Doctor shouted back, doing likewise whilst at the same time trying to get the sonic - bloody trousers, she really needed a new coat. "We're about to get a look at this big fella's belly!"

_No need to sound so chuffed about it!_ Was what Rose wanted to yell, but being able to breathe took precedence so she just shouted out. "Not interested!"

"Right, right, gimme a sec." Oh why did she choose jeans? They were tight and sexy, yes, but bloody annoying to get anything out of the pockets. And now her hand was stuck in there - c'mon, c'mon! - fingers clutched around the sonic she wrenched it out just in time and pointed the blue emitter up at the massive roof of the creatures mouth. "There we go! Stimulated the chemo-receptors!"

"The wha'?!"

"The eject button!" Even as she said it the imbalance suddenly lurched the other way, enough so that the Doctor could find her feet again and stumble gracelessly over to Rose to help her do the same. 

Poor Rose was looking a little green as she did get her weight back under her again, all this tossing about was making her want to open a window and just chuck out her dinner. But she sucked it back down as she looked around. "Thanks...so what'd you mean eject button?"

Smiling a little guiltily, the Doctor just asked back "Well, what always happens when you eat something you shouldn't?"

Her question was answered by a massive echoing retch from deep within the bowels of their giant carrier. Disbelief ran across Rose's face as she turned back around to face the deep recesses of the animal's throat and saw exactly what the Doctor meant: A massive tide of half-digested food accompanied by the body's juices was rushing towards them, heading for the only available exit.

"Oh no."

"Yep."

That flippant response had her turning to glare daggers at the mad woman who was still grinning stupidly at her as if they weren't about to be swept away in a sea of vomit. "I gonna kill you!"

The Doctor just continued to stare happily into her eyes and offered her hand which Rose begrudgingly took. "Deep breath!"

And then the tide reached them.

* * *

Naturally, the Doctor came to first. An initial cursory inspection of her new surroundings suggested they'd left that giant creature behind what with the ground not wobbling at there actually being some light. An annoyed mumble beside her drew her attention to Rose who was starting to recover from their latest quick getaway, a quick scan showed nothing wrong and so she left her to wake up on her own. 

Taking another look around at the pipe, the Doctor quickly identified a door on the far end and hurried over to it. Like the voting booths from before there was no clear door knob and this time she couldn't make out any sort of power junction that she could hotwire to get them out. All that left then was what the mastermind of this little caper had left them: A big white button with the word FORGET written on it.

_Must be a concealed memory eraser right above the door._ No protest button this time, either.  _So much for democracy._

Behind her Rose's mumbles turned into a coherent moan as she finally opened her eyes and pulled herself up. The first thing she noted was the banging in her head, no helped along as her memory of their escape hit her to which she just moaned again and then breathed in which caused her to gag. "Oh, that's vile!"

"Well you did just get vomited on, what did you expect it to smell like?" 

Oh she had a few choice words concerning her alien guide's idea of a clean getaway, but right now the room was too busy spinning so she just focussed on getting up and not breathing in the new putrid stink that was covering up the old one that was soaked into her twice ruined clothes and sodden hair. Shaking some of the sticky locks out of her face, she got her own first good look at the place. "Where are we?"

"Overshoot pipe by the look of it." The Doctor answered, not bothering to sonic it any further - probably deadlocked anyway - and came about to face her...only for her gaze to jump right over her head to something behind her. "Looks like they thought of everything."

"What d'you mean?" Looking back for herself, Rose was immediately on guard as she came face to face with two Smilers both of whom were currently in their smiling configuration. Unnerved, but trying not to show it, she only took a single step back as the Doctor joined her at her side. "Why're they here too?"

"Carrot and Stick." The Doctor said by way of explanation, indicating the door behind them with the one button to let them out with the one condition neither of them would agree to. Instead then she took a step forward, eyes fixed solely on the two booths. "Alright, I've got a lot of questions and I think you know the answers. Question One: What's a giant creature doing in the centre of this ship?"

Instead of answering, the smiles turned into frowns. 

She merely rolled her eyes at them. "Alright then, Question Two: Why the memory wipes? 'Cos whoever's doing this doesn't have to bother showing the truth if it gets them what they want so why show it at all?"

Once again the two things retained their silence, their heads swapping out now for their menacing glares. 

At the sight of them, Rose nervously cleared her throat and took another step back. Why she didn't know, it wasn't like they had anywhere to go but back against the door behind them. 

Her reaction only got a glance from the Doctor whose only act was to scoff at the intimidation technique and stand her ground, hands slipping into her jeans sick-filled pockets. "Fine, I'll work it out me'self. Let's see, creature that big feeding off whatever them upstairs throw away, along with the occasional protester or two, its got to span the entire ship. A ship without an engine, I might add, but is still moving, meaning big fella back there is providing the thrust...but why would you hide that?" 

She paused, a frown pulling at her face, and for a moment Rose was ready to fill in the blanks no matter how much what she knew disgusted her...and yet that reckless determination that had filled her only a few minutes ago had vanished. What if the Doctor didn't believe her...or worse, what if she decided to let it continue? 

But then the moment passed when the older blonde clicked her fingers in realisation. "Oh! That's it! Slave labour! Big one is being _forced_  to work for you! But why would you give the people the option of protesting?" Her frown was back only for a second before she had that bit worked out too and she let out a sad sigh. "Of course...guilty conscience. Whoever trapped it is still alive and can't live with what they did so they set up this maze of secrets to decide if the voyage is still worth it."

"So then," the Doctor rounded off, eyes set on the two scowling Smilers, "final question: Whose guilty conscience is Starship UK's government protecting?"

That, it appeared, was the final straw. As her question left her lips the booths suddenly swung open, both Smilers stepped out onto their feet and began marching towards them. Instantly they began backing up the short way towards the door with the Forget button.

"Great," Rose didn't know why she was suddenly so cavalier, imminent death by creepy android should not result in a flippant tongue, "so how's this fit in to the guilty leader theory?"

"Well gimme a minute, I'll figure that out too!" The Doctor protested quickly, racking her memory for even the slightest hint. "Feel free t'chip in if the mood strikes you!"

"What d'you want me t'do? Howl at them?!"

_Maybe not._ Odd that she'd jump to a word like that, but then the problem of the two advancing angry automatons took precedence. They boxed them in, herding them towards the door until there was only a step or two left to retreat into. Many things about this were not good. 

And then there was a groaning of metal on hinges and the next thing either of them new a familiar red cloak had burst past them both, the figure wearing it having drawn a pistol from somewhere and went to work shooting their two mechanical menaces. Three shots for each, two in the chest, one in the head, alternated to keep the damage equal. The Smilers never had a chance.

Even before they collapsed, the woman in the hood had turned away from them, twirling her pistol in her hands before returning it to a holster on her hips, and came to face her two rescuees. One look at them both and she couldn't help a grin from spreading over her now very visible face. "As mad as they said you'd be."

"Oh, look who's here!" The Doctor couldn't help her elated greeting, taking in the new face. "And no mask, even better!"

Liz smirked back, she probably heard that any time she took that old thing off. "Yeah, well, the thing cramps somethin' awful."

"Wait a sec," Rose spoke up at last, the shock of their narrow escape wearing off as she put the cloak together with the last hour, "you're the person who nicked me the first time!"

Her statement got a cringe out of Liz, who turned to face her accuser. "Yeah, sorry 'bout that Rose. Thought you'd be safe. Shoulda known they'd be watchin', so that's on me. Good thing I stuck a tracer on ya, then."

"Mandy?" 

At the Doctor's question, Liz stepped passed them back to the open door and ushered in the girl in question, hands resting on her shoulders. Seeing them alive, her brave expression crumbled into startled relief which she built into a smile. Liz herself just beamed down at the little one. "We've got us a little trooper, here. Wouldn't budge, even when I told her to stay back. So..."

Her smile dripped away to an expression more like that of her stoic mask. "Been listenin' in, big fella livin' at the heart of my nation, someone in charge put it here. Any ideas who?"

"Why ask us?" The bitterness in Rose's tone had them all turning to look at her in surprise, her amazement had turned into a dark scowl as exactly  _why_ she'd ended up in the beast's mouth started playing through her mind again. "You live here, you've voted. You'll just choose to forget about it if we tell you."

If Liz was offended she didn't show it, merely shaking her head with a levity the Doctor couldn't imagine she really felt and replied with a light tone she didn't believe. "Nope. Never forgot. Never voted. Not technically a British subject."

"Then who exactly are you?" The Doctor pressed, her synapses making connections that didn't make sense yet, she needed more information. "And why did you take Rose?"

In response Liz's smile became a touch more genuine as she backed up a step to take in the pair of them, drenched in sick and saliva, as if they were the answer to all her prayers. "You're a bit hard to miss, love: Mysterious stranger, MO consistent with higher alien intelligence...and completely fashion blind. I've been brought up on the stories, like the rest of the fam."

And then she had eyes only for the human blonde. "And the standing warning that if anything happens to Rose Tyler, the Doctor  **will** come to call."

_Stories about me passed down the family line?_ Now why did that sound exactly like a consequence of hers? Odd for it to include a warning in it though, related to Rose or not (granted it was true). The Doctor didn't get a chance to ask about it though as the room was suddenly filled with creaking and groaning which put Liz on alert, her gaze snapping over to the downed Smilers.

"They're repairin', doesn't take 'em long." Coming about to nod Mandy along, she began to stride out herself, leaving Rose and the Doctor to follow after her and slam the door shut in the machines' faces.

That out of the way, they returned to the new mystery leading them around. "Who is she?" Rose asked the Doctor quietly, the two of them keeping slightly behind as Liz led them through a series of corridors and ladders until it was unclear whether they were going up the ship or further down. "Cos she knew who you were before she even saw you."

"Dunno." The Doctor replied with a shrug and a frown. "I meet a lot of people, some like to tell tales."

"What, tales of the crazy lady who saves 'em by dropping sick all over the place?"

"Says the girl who kicked living plastic in the face."

"Right..." Funny how that had slipped her mind, but considering everything that had happened in just the last couple of hours Rose was amazed she even remembered that's what she'd been doing just a little while ago. 

Ahead, Liz smirked a little before throwing over her shoulder. "Y'know, if you wanna ask somethin' just go 'head an' ask it!"

Her calling them out stunned the blonde pair and for a moment both cringed a little at being caught out, they'd thought they were being quiet. The subject of their curiosity didn't stop to chat though, forcing them to start back up as well lest they be left behind. As they did, Liz carried on. "Fun fact 'bout my family, Rose: We can't seem to shake that one off our tail."

"So you do know her then?" Rose asked again, positing the question to Liz's back this time.

She however just shrugged. "First time meetin', but I've heard the stories: The Doctor, old drinking buddy of Henry XII, tea and scones with Liz II..."

_"Vicky was a bit on the fence 'bout ya, knighted_ and  _exiled all on the same day. And so much for the Virgin Queen, you bad bad boy!"_

"Liz Ten!" The Doctor nearly missed a step as that missing something in her head clicked into place, the figure ahead of her now suddenly having more than just an alias and take-charge attitude. 

"Liz Ten, yeah." The woman nodded firmly, ears pricking at the sound of something behind them. "Elizabeth X - and down!"

Her warning was all her three followers got before she came swirling back around, a pistol in each hand, and unloaded both weapons into a pair of Smilers that they'd been ignoring in their hurry to get to safer territory. The two machines fell back, twitching. Liz inspected her handiwork for a moment before smirking down at the three ladies - two her subjects, one who might as well be - knelt at her feet. "I'm the bloody Queen, loves. Basically, I rule."

_The Queen!_ Rose's brain almost shut down at that, somehow that was even more insane than a nation being turned into a space ship and being powered by a giant animal. She'd been kidnapped and then rescued by the bloody  _Queen of the United Kingdom!_ Had the Doctor known? No, going by that gobsmacked look, she'd say this was a shock to her as well.

There was no time to talk further though, the whirring and winding of the felled Smilers behind them giving away their repair protocol. As one, the three kneelers jumped back to their feet and followed the Queen to another door, locked shut but the Doctor's sonic screwdriver made short work of that and they all filed in to another corridor which had one of the walls removed and replaced with thick bars, showing an open shaft that probably went all the way down the bowels of Starship UK.

"There's a high speed Vator through here." Liz was saying before she came to a halt by the bars, her eyes fixing on what was rising out of the shaft. "Oh yeah, an' then there's these things. Any ideas?"

The two time travellers stopped beside her and Rose instinctively jumped back when one of the two rising tentacles smashed its talon into the metal. "The hell's that?"

"Part of the creature we were just in." The Doctor murmured, stepping closer to the bars even as the other tentacle did as the first one did, ramming just to the side of her face. "There's one coming through higher up, that's what the tent was about. Didn't get a chance to properly look at it though."

"Couldn't risk you bein' caught." Liz replied unapologetically, eyes not leaving either protrusion. "The Winders were comin' an' you're no good in prison."

The Doctor didn't respond to that, her attention now fully focussed on the tentacles as well as they continued to randomly smack the bars, uncoordinated, lacking any direction just like the one she saw before.  _Thrashing, that's the word for it, not attacking._ Part her wanted to reach out to them telepathically, to soothe the mind below.  _Not just slave labour then...whoever's behind this better be feeling very guilty about it all._

"So this thing's been livin' in my nation for years, infesting the upper levels, an' someone is helpin' it." With every word, Liz got angrier, her expression turning darker. "Not sure I agree with your 'guilty conscience' theory, Doctor." She ground out before stalking of in a fury towards the Vator.

Mandy set off after the Queen, still looking a bit star struck over everything that had happened, leaving the Doctor and Rose to stare at the tentacles with their own thoughts about it all. "How much power does she have?" Rose asked.

"The Royal Family came back into prominence in the 25th Century," the Doctor answered, "Parliament was ousted from power after they Second English Civil War. The people wanted a clear leadership again and, well, the Windsors were right there."

"So if she's the one in charge and she didn't forget, how come she didn't know about this?" 

"Maybe whatever happened was the decree of a previous Monarch." She theorised, suddenly wishing she had something to chew on, maybe a Jammy Dodger. "They couldn't handle the guilt and so told no one else about it, the Government covers everything up and it just becomes another secret that casually gets forgotten about until someone starts asking questions..."

Except that didn't work with what she'd put together so far. Whoever set this Police State up had to still be alive in some form or capacity otherwise what was the point? No, she was missing something, something big and obvious and right in front of her but for the life of her she couldn't figure it out. Shaking her head, the Doctor gave Rose another little shrug before leading her off. "No point standing around here, chinwaggin'. Let's stick with Liz for now, maybe things'll clear up." 

With nothing to add to that, Rose just nodded before giving the tentacles one final worried look and then followed the Doctor's lead down the corridor to the Vator where Liz and Mandy were waiting, the Vator doors open and ready. 

"Done gossiping?" The Queen asked as they all got in.

"Oh I really hope not." The Doctor replied with a wide grin. "I might like gossip. That's the thing girls like, right? Gossiping, telling stories, doing nails. I'm new to this, y'see."

She received no reply save a knowing eye-roll from Liz as she hit the only button on the Vator's interior and soon they were zooming upwards at a breakneck pace which had half the occupants' bellies doing a weird dance whilst the Time Lord and the Queen remained unmoved. No questions were asked, the Doctor was saving up for when they arrived at wherever they were going, and no conversation was had, Mandy and Rose were too busy focusing on not dropping off their lunch.

The Vator came to a halt barely half a minute after it set off, and the two inexperienced occupants got out first followed by the older pair a moment later. Liz took one look at the pair of them and then smirked over at the Doctor. "From everythin' I heard, I figured it'd take more'n a lift to take down Rose Tyler."

"Give her time." She replied with absolute conviction, "This is her first journey."

"Is it?" The Queen looked on Rose now with amazement, "An' already takin' on the big risks. Bloody tough, she is."

"Stubborn, more like." But then if she hadn't been, Big Ears would've remained a grumpy old sod right to the end. Infuriating as it was at times, the Doctor would never have that change about her. 

They gave the girls another minute to calm their bellies down and then moved on, passing through a couple of cleaner, more decorated hallways until Liz ushered them through a door off to the side and locked it shut behind them. The room they now found themselves in was a paradox, spacious but filled with bits and bobs, spartan despite the four-poster bed and a shattered chandelier in the centre, and opposite the bed ten glasses all filled with still - motionless - water that only rippled when they stepped past. 

"My Royal Chambers." Liz explained needlessly, giving the place a look of severe distaste, picking up a couple of towels on the bedside chair. "Make y'selves at home."

At her offering, both blondes took the proffered towels and made a beeline for the en-suite bathroom on the far side of the room. Time was something they didn't have (or at least that was what the Doctor insisted) so they could only really scrub their faces and hair clean, but it was a start at least.

"God, I'm never gonna be able to wear this again." Rose muttered to herself, staring at her ruined hoodie in the mirror.

The Doctor was a moment away from suggesting she just buy some new ones until she caught the worry hidden behind the annoyance in Rose's eyes.  _Right, Pete never got his ideas off the ground in this dimension so she doesn't exactly have much revenue to fall back on._ Well that wasn't too much of a problem so long as they had the TARDIS, maybe She'd play nice for Rose.

Putting that out of her mind for now she and Rose returned to the main chamber where Liz had taken a seat on the bed, a faraway look in her eyes as she glared at the still glasses at the foot of the bed. Mandy was sitting around nervously and happily bounded over to them once they returned, slotting in firmly on the Doctor's other side, passing her a spare hair band and nodding at Rose's still drying hair.

Getting her point she gave Mandy a grateful nod and passed the band over to Rose who nodded her own thanks and stepped over to the nearby mirror to sort herself out. That taken care of, the Doctor moved break the Queen's line of sight with the glasses. "Clever little trick that. Why so many?"

"To remind me." Liz replied stonily, barely looking up at her, the cockney she'd been using only minutes ago briefly slipping away. "Each one for each year of my reign to remind me that my Government is hiding something from me."

_A pretty big something too._ The Doctor agreed, her eyes slipping over to the mask that Liz had tossed aside and picked it up. Giving it a good look over she couldn't help but wonder... "The Queen herself forced to go incognito to investigate her own country..."

"Secrets are being kept from me." The Queen in question responded sharply, sitting up from the pillows. "Ten years, my entire reign, I've been doing this...an' you've done more than I ever did in one afternoon."

"Ah don't let it get you down, you'd have gotten there in the end." She didn't know how she knew that, but if Liz was as determined as the Doctor thought she remembered her being then that should be how it would've gone. That said, her attention was still on the mask... "How old were you when you came to the Throne?"

"...Forty." Liz said eventually, a small uncomprehending smile accompanying the answer. "Why?"

"Give over." The disbelieving exclamation from Rose caught their attention as she came back into the conversation, hair tied back now and eyes staring at Liz's clearly younger-than-it-should-be face. "There's no way you're fifty. My mum's comin' on forty an' she doesn't look like that."

'That' being the fact that Liz didn't look any older than a woman in her late twenties, not that it bothered the Doctor that much. She'd seen this before. "They slowed your body's ageing process?"

"Yeh, keep me lookin' like the stamps as long as they can." The Queen replied in a momentary flash of vain pride.

The Doctor though just tapped the mask that she hadn't put down or looked away from, noting the cracks and worn corners. "You always wear this?"

"Undercover's not exactly easy for a queen, y'know." Liz stated, pride turning to defensive annoyance. "You try sticking your face somewhere everyone knows it."

_Good thing I can trade faces every few hundred years, then._ But that wasn't really the point she'd been trying to make as the Doctor finally looked away from the mask to study the face it covered. "But this is air-balanced porcelain..."

"Yeah...so what?"

_So everything..._ Frowning at what she was seeing, both on the mask and the Queen herself, the Doctor considered spilling the beans but something held her back, almost as if it wasn't the right time to do so. Instead, she just shook her head and moved on. "Anyway, big creature in the ship, surgically fed food refuse and anyone who hits a Protest button." 

"Right, yeah." It was with a bit too much relief that Liz looked away from the Doctor's gaze to focus on Rose. "You saw the vid, any idea who's behind it?"

But Rose just shook her head. "It didn't focus on that, just what they did."

"An' what'd they do?"

That really wasn't something she wanted to repeat. But the Doctor and the Queen were both looking at her in askance, they needed her to tell them what was going on. But...but, but,but. That three letter word gave her so much pause. The Doctor said the Royal Family was in charge now...so what if she told them and the Queen decided to keep it going once she found out what had happened? And what if the Doctor backed her up? She hadn't wanted to kill the Nestene Consciousness after all, even when it was trying to kill them - so how could she live with killing a hundred million people?

The doubts rang clear on her face, and the Doctor's own began to frown in concern as she got off the bed to make her way over to her. She never got a chance to though as, even as she pushed off the bed, three men in the black cloaks of the Winders burst into the Queen's bedchambers. 

"What are you doing?!" Liz demanded, leaping back to her feet furiously. "How dare you come in here?!"

"Ma'am." The lead Winder, a dark skinned chap who kept his intense stare on the Doctor the entire time as the other two took up his flanks. "You have expressed interest in the inner workings of Starship UK. You will come with us now."

"And why would I do that?" 

Liz's question was responded with the most horrific of reveals. Instead of instantly answering, the heads of the three Winders fixed into a straight ahead stare...and then started clicking as their faces turned 180 degrees around to reveal the toothy scowl of a Smiler. 

Fight-or-flight struck in Rose's system immediately as she started looking for escape routes, but the Doctor remained still offering up little more than a frown at the creatures in front of her. "So the UK doesn't only police its nation, it cannibalises its own police as well...talk about keeping jobs in house."

The Winders didn't respond, their expressionless glares turning to face the Queen who didn't back down at all. Getting right up into the face of the leader, she all but hissed at it. "Whatever you creatures are, I am still your Queen. On who's authority is this done?" 

"The Highest Authority, Ma'am." The Winder replied, which only served to infuriate her further.

"I am the Highest Authority!" 

"Yes, Ma'am." It agreed tonelessly, making it impossible to tell if it was being genuine or not, before continuing. "You must go now, Ma'am."

"Go where?"

"The Tower, Ma'am."

And for the first time since their meeting, the Doctor thought she saw a sliver of fear cross over Liz's face...fear and something else. As if she knew what she was going to find and couldn't bear to see it again. 

_Curiouser and curiouser._

 


	10. Be Kind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, last chapter of Beast Below. Sorry it took so long but working out how to incorporate Rose and Thirteen into an Amy and Eleven story isn't easy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, the last segment I chose for this chapter may hold bad memories for some readers. 
> 
> Understand that nothing I write is intended to slight or hurt or make little of what you went through.

Once again they found themselves travelling downwards in a Vator, considerably more packed than before with the three Winders along for the ride, and despite this being the same high-speed model they'd taken before it felt like the journey was dragging out which in turn made Mandy clutch to the Doctor's hand just a little bit tighter. On her other side, Rose kept as straight a face as possible even though she had a feeling she knew what these creatures were about to show them. 

But perhaps the most interesting piece of behaviour was in Liz herself. One would think she'd be far more gung-ho to get to the bottom of this but the further down they went a sort of transformation had begun in her - the strength from before wearing away to leave only trepidation that no mask could hope to hide.

By the time the Vator halted, the Doctor's suspicions were all but cemented.

More tunnels and passageways awaited them, much darker and considerably older than any of the others they'd wandered, tinkered and ran through today, until the metal and piping gave way entirely to a structure of stone and a wooden door with the typical latch-style doorknob to go with it. Someone really liked their retro, it was almost brilliant if the Doctor didn't know what they were about to find.

"The Tower of London." She murmured to herself, rolling her eyes lightly as she gave Mandy's hand another squeeze. "How am I in space and still end up here?"

"Been there before?" Rose asked, latching onto any bit of levity to stave off what she'd not been telling them she knew about this place.

"Once or twice." The Doctor shrugged. "Not my fault...mostly...well I say mostly..."

Her oncoming ramble was cut off as the lead Winder unlatched the door and ushered the party inside. The 'Ye Olde Tymes' theme continued within, stone walls and wooden floors with pits here and there grated off to prevent accidents. Were it not for the computer banks, where more people in the same hooded getup as their Winder escorts were seated at work, it could have passed for a period-accurate dungeon...or a torture chamber.

That however was where old met new. In the centre was one giant circular hole in the floor, railed off, and above it a giant laser-generating electrode that shot a concentrated beam downwards every few seconds. Things started clicking together, disappointment running rife in the Doctor's brain as they did, and she found herself drifting over towards the hole to confirm if her theory matched reality.

She was so engrossed she almost missed one of the cloaked staff breaking away from his work to greet the Queen, pulling back his hood as he did so. "Ma'am."

At the sight of his face - a greying bespectacled old man with hollow eyes - Liz looked both parts surprised...and not at all as she identified him with a glare. "Hawthorne. So this's where you hid yourself. Think you've got some explaining to do."

Such would have to wait though as a door on the far side opened and a party of children wandered through carrying odd bits and bobs in. Rose took one look at their scruffy appearances and rounded on the man with her own glare. "The hell're they doing here dressed like that?!"

Her anger barely touched him though as he turned his empty gaze to her. "Protesters and citizens of limited value are fed to the Beast. For some reason it won't eat the children."

"An' you can't just - I dunno - send them home?" But she cut herself off before she went further and let out an angry scoff. "No, 'course not! What if they talked? An' what makes a person of limited value?!"

Hawthorne merely shrugged. "Low intelligence scores, lazy workers, sometimes just the unemployed or unfortunate. You're the first adults it's spared though, you should consider yourselves quite lucky."

"Lucky," The Doctor muttered by the pit, her eyes staring downward at what she'd hoped she wouldn't see, her own expression turning blank as Floppy's angry memories began to come rushing back. "Oh yes, that's a word for it. Nearly eaten, only to end up in London's most infamous torture chamber. Lucky."

Trying to keep herself from glaring at the people - idiots! - around her, she pushed off the railing and motioned for the rest of her party to join her around it. "Except...that's not what this place is - well it  _is,_ but then it also  _isn't_ \- depends on your angle."

As she said this, the other three joined her with Hawthorne close behind looking no more pleased to look upon this sight than she did. Liz took one look down and recoiled at what she saw whilst Rose merely looked at it all with a sadness the Doctor hadn't thought to see so soon. Mandy was the only one who didn't really know what to make of what she was seeing, but it was still the Queen who asked the question.

"What is that?"

"Its brain." Rose answered grimly, scowling in both parts at the machine and the people who operated it. "And it's being tortured."

"Well yes." The Doctor nodded, unable to stay light as her own anger began to overtake her despite her best attempts. "But again, depending on your angle, you could call this Starship UK's gas pedal, accelerator - the big ol' 'Go Faster' button."

Everyone present in a black cloak winced at such bluntness, even Hawthorne's sad eyes seemed to dip a touch more. About the only one left in the dark was Liz herself who just said, "I don't understand."

"Yes you do." Funny, she was sure she-as-a-he had had more patience than this as she tried to get the Queen to understand what had happened on her watch. "A spaceship that can never fly, no ripples in the water, because there is no engine. There's only this!" She pointed straight down at the exposed brain, a single finger trembling with fury. "This poor, ancient creature that you people trapped and tortured and fed people you don't like!  _This_ is how the United Kingdom left the Earth: Slavery and discrimination!"

She was getting through, Liz's gaze going from confused to horrified denial...but that wasn't enough. So, without giving anyone time to recover from her words, she bounded back over to one of the grates and pulled it off to admit a single tentacle that had Liz, Mandy and the Winders backing up. But she only looked up at it sadly, sonic popping out of her ruined jeans that she now pointed at it.

"Wanna hear what that sounds like?"

It was rhetorical of course. The sonic buzzed a second later, and the whole room was filled with a horrific high-pitched wailing that shook every man and woman to their bones at the pure  _agony_ they were inflicting upon it. It didn't take long before Liz, hunched over as if she could feel even a sliver of what had been done here, begged her to stop. She did so, but any triumph she might have felt fell to the sidelines at the tears her actions had brought out in Mandy and Rose, the only innocents present.

Distraught, Liz staggered back to stare in horror at her people. "Who did this?"

It was Hawthorne who answered dutifully if not heavily. "We act on instructions from the Highest Authority."

His reply however just fired up her temper, smothered though it was by grief.  _"I_ am the Highest Authority." She reminded him as sharply as her shattered being would allow. "The creature will be released, now...I said now!"

But even at her command no one moved to act...in fact for the first time Hawthorne smiled, but it was just as hollow as everything else on his face. Seeing that though, Liz turned around to stare at the rest of the Winders, all of whom remained stoically and solemnly still. "Is anyone listening to me?"

As the firm stances of her people became clearer though, the full picture of what was going on started to latch in Rose's mind, things the Doctor had said falling into place. As they did so, she sought out the gaze of the blonde in question. "The person who set this up was someone in charge who felt guilty, yeah?"

She got a nod for her trouble but that was enough as she went on. "What if that high authority was the Highest Authority?"

"What?!" Liz spun round to face her at that statement. "You sayin' someone in my family did this?! Who?!"

For a moment Rose felt a sharp stabbing of incredulity as she stared at the woman, how could she not see it? Wasn't it obvious who'd done it? The Doctor saved her from blowing up though as she called Liz's attention to her. "Look at your mask."

Angry and confused, the Queen didn't even glance downwards. "What's my mask got to do with anythin'?"

"Everything." She stated firmly, eyes sharp as her command. "It's old, much older than just ten years."

"Yeah, it's an antique. So what?"

"An antique that's perfectly moulded to your face?" The Doctor asked, her leading question pushing at what everyone here had known or realised save for the woman herself. "That thing's more than two centuries old I'd say..." Still she didn't get it, it was almost pitiful just how far the Queen had gone, but now she had started the Doctor had to tell her the terrible truth. "Which means, whilst your ageing has been slowed, you're not fifty...well over three hundred would be a closer estimation."

Comprehension at last...and then immediately snuffed as Liz shook her head in firm denial. "Nah, it's been ten years. I've been on the Throne ten years."

"Which is what you tell yourself, every time you do this." She cut off Liz's insistence and carried on, clicking to Rose. "How long did it take us to figure all this out?"

"Few hours." She said with a shrug. "Jus' needed to watch the recording, really."

"Exactly." The Doctor returned her attention to the Queen. "An afternoon of work, but you stretched it over ten years because on some level you knew what you were going to find and you hate yourself for it. Guilty conscience."

Confused, and now growing slightly scared, Liz could only shake her head once more and ask. "What'd I find?"

Sighing, the Doctor took her by the hand and pulled her around the railing to the far side where there was a seat and a small old screen. In front of the screen were two very familiar white circle buttons. One labelled FORGET. The other ABDICATE.

And like that, all the denials fell away, what little bravado the Queen had left shattered as she stared at the two choices before her. There was nothing more she could say, no way to put it off as someone else's doing...and yet still she turned to look up miserably at Hawthorne as he and the rest of the group came to join her and the Doctor by the screen. "What have you done?"

If possible, the sad man grew sadder as he replied, "Only what you have ordered. We work for you, Ma'am - the Winders, the Smilers, all of us."

And then he reached up, placed his hand on a switch on top of the screen and pressed it down. In response the screen before Liz switched on, presenting a recording of herself. If broken was what the present Liz was heading towards, this Liz was the final product. Hollow, sad eyes and a heavy tone carried through her as the recording played.

_"If you are watching this - if_ I  _am watching this - then I have found my way to the Tower of London. The creature you are looking at is called a Star Whale."_

Her face was suddenly replaced by a diagram of the creature, a massive being easily capable of holding a city of a hundred million people on its back.  _"Once,"_ the recording went on,  _"there were millions of them. They lived in the depths of space and, according to legend, guided the early space travellers through the asteroid belts. This one, as far as we are aware, is the last of its kind...and what we have done to it breaks my heart."_

It then went on to recount the plight of the British people - how their ship wouldn't fly, how scared their children had been, how their saviour had appeared...and then what they had done to it. But the Doctor blocked it out, she'd heard it before and with that knowledge came the memories: the fury, the hopelessness, the impossible choice she-as-a-he had been faced with: humanity or the alien.

For the moment though she just observed the people around her, Hawthorne's silent resignation to this state of affairs, Liz's growing disgust with herself as her past self laid down exactly what had been done on her command, Mandy's innocent incomprehension of it all, and Rose... _Oh Rose._  She was heartbroken at what her country, her  _species,_ had become...and yet...all the Doctor could see was Amy. Amy who had chosen to forget in order to spare her-as-a-him pain...Rose chose to protest and then hid what she knew rather than put that choice on her shoulders.

"You protected me." She murmured to her, pulling Rose's attention away from the recording. "You knew what had been done here but took it on yourself to decide this voyage had to end."

Frowning, the other blonde shrugged with a small nod. "Not sure I'd say it that way. But it's still wrong."

"Not the point." The Doctor cut her off sharply, hazel eyes meeting brown with all the intensity of her two thousand years behind them prompting Rose to step back a little. "You decided the human race had gone too far and sought to end the Star Whale's suffering...that was wrong." And now the finger came up between them, backing up the way her gaze had turned flinty. "You don't  _ever_ give up on your people, Rose. Not ever."

"But...what they did-"

"Was cruel." She agreed, before turning her attention to Liz who now resembled herself in the recording. "And what she did was cowardly, but we  _do not give up."_

That was all she had to say on the subject before turning away from all of them, ignoring the continuing message in the background, and made her way over to the controls that managed the electrode. A brief inspection of the circuitry later concluded there was no other way to switch it off except from the buttons in front of Liz.

Good. Time for a lesson.

"Right then." Her assertive tone called everyone's attention to her, Liz's included as she sluggishly returned to her feet. They may as well have been invisible as the Doctor went on. "Problem: Star Whale needs to stay put in order for this ship to fly, but torturing it is off the table, so how do we keep it put? Three options: One, we let the Queen forget again, keeping the cycle going round and round for however many more years; Two, I could pass a massive current through the big one's brain, knock out all its higher brain functions..."

She paused for a moment to let her solution and position read in everyone's mind but before anyone could speak up - Rose was already coming around to stop her - she was on the move again, coming back around the railing to stand face to face with the Queen. "Or Three, Elizabeth X takes the path less travelled, hits the other button."

"What?!" That was the general response along with the other terrified outcries of the gathered people, but the Doctor only had eyes for Liz who wasn't faring much better. "If we do that, it'll leave."

"Will it?" She asked back, "Maybe it won't."

"Doctor!" It was Rose's turn to be incredulous, staring between her and the Queen. How could she think that these people would ever turn this thing off? And even if they did, why the hell would the Star Whale stay after what they'd done?

But the Doctor didn't look away from Liz, focusing all of her will on convincing this one broken woman that this was the right thing to do. "You said in your recording that the Star Whale's arrival was a miracle...thing is, I've seen a couple of miracles in my time and I don't think this qualifies."

Noting her incomprehension, she guided her back to the seat and replayed the recording. Most of it was irrelevant 'woe is me, I'm unforgivable', the usual drama kids tossed around, which she fast-forwarded past until they got to the bit she needed and hit play. _"-our children screamed as the skies grew hotter. And then it came-"_

"There." She paused the recording on vid-Liz's awed face and returned her attention to the current Liz who matched her past self's expression. Shaking her head, the Doctor carried on. "This wasn't a miracle sent from the heavens, it was a voluntary act of kindness."

Her declaration was met with the same blank faces from everyone around her. Seriously? They still didn't get it? Alright then, desperate measures. "Y'see, Liz, whilst you've all been forgetting...or making grandiose sacrifices," her gaze slipped over to Rose for a moment before snapping away again, "I've been doing what you all should've done from the beginning: Watching, listening and  _learning_."

"Timmy!" Her lecture paused as Mandy broke off and hurried over to another batch of young helpers, stopping in front of a little boy her age. Coming face to face with each other the girl suddenly found herself unable to say anything, all the words she'd wanted to say flying away at the sight of her friend alive.

But the Doctor wasn't so much interested in their interaction as where they were standing. Timmy suddenly lurched back though, confusing Mandy who tried to follow him but stopped when something poked her on the shoulder. Alarmed, half the staff made to rush over but the Doctor sharply told them all to stay put and just watch as Mandy turned to stare at the large formidable tentacle that had just playfully nudged her with its talon.

At first Mandy looked like she would bolt, but then the talon itself backed up a little before the top of the tentacle lowered down gently and slowly...and then the little girl shocked everyone by cautiously reaching up and stroking the lethal barb. The tentacle's reaction was equally baffling to them as it seemed to preen at her gentle action.

_Through the eyes of babes..._  the Doctor couldn't help smiling proudly before coming back around to the adults. "That look like a creature with a grudge to you?"

"But..." Liz's gaze was still fixed on the children playing with their captive, "after everything we've done...why?"

"Hate is foolish..." She replied, her smiling turning small in reminiscence of the man who'd told her that. "Something as old as a Star Whale would've learned that long ago. Every time you've hurt it, it's forgiven you right away...and it always will."

Which brought them nicely back to the two buttons before the Queen as the Doctor turned her back towards them. "But I think its time that kindness was repaid, don't you?" 

Wonder turned back to indecisiveness and grief as Liz's eyes strayed beyond the buttons and the screen to the electrode and the exposed brain. Seeing that doubt, the Doctor took hold of her hand and guided it so it was on top of the Abdicate button. "Kindness for kindness, Your Majesty. No more Bloody Queen Liz."

This was as far as she could go though, now it was down to the Queen who still looked upon everything she had ordered done to save her people, the pain in her heart making it nigh impossible to breathe. One hundred million souls, or her own peace of mind...it would be so easy to forget, her eyes slipping over to the left button...but sooner or later she'd be back here again just to decide the same thing all over again. Another act of cowardice.

The British people deserved a far better Queen than her...and suddenly her decision was clear. Turning aching eyes to the Doctor, who looked back with that kind old gaze so many of her predecessors had written about, Queen Elizabeth X managed to pull the smallest of smiles and whispered two words.

"Thank you."

And with that she officially abdicated from the Throne.

A heartbeat passed as the electrode switched off, all circuitry wiring it to the systems burning out then and there, and everyone held their breath to see what would happen next their faces equal masks of dread and guilty acceptance of their fates. 

From the bowels of the ship there suddenly emitted a mighty roar followed by a vicious rocking. The massive quake was felt throughout the nation, people being tossed off their feet as the entirety of Starship UK lurched backwards and then forwards again, but nowhere was it felt more than in the Tower as the entire control hub sparked and shook itself apart...and then it stopped.

For a moment no one was entirely sure what had just happened aside from the fact that their Queen had just ended the program herself, shouldn't the ship be falling apart? And yet here they were, alive and intact. It was Hawthorne who managed to stagger over to a readout to see exactly what was going on and what he saw pulled the first real emotion anyone had seen on his face in years: Shocked awe.

"We've  _increased_ speed!!"

"Amazing how that happens when the pilot's not hampered with a backseat driver." The Doctor stated as she helped Liz and Rose back to their feet. "Like I said: Kindness for kindness."

And for the first time, she thought she saw understanding beginning to dawn in the eyes of every Winder and Operator around her. Took them long enough.

* * *

"The Bloody Queen." Liz muttered to herself, glaring at the white porcelain mask that'd hidden her face for centuries. Smirking without mirth, she turned to the Doctor who was once again sat at the edge of her bed in her chambers. "Guess I knew just what kinda person I really was, eh?"

The Doctor just shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. Regret's a funny thing: it can shape all kinds of memories if you let it." 

Jumping back up onto her feet, she made her way around the bed so that she and the Queen were side by side, staring into the full-body mirror. "The trick is, what do you let that regret turn you into? Someone who keeps running from it...or someone who chooses to do something with it?"

"Yeah?" The former queen snorted in self-derision as her gaze fell upon her reflection. "An' what good's a woman who puts Mary I to shame?"

Her question was met with another shrug from the Time Lord. "Dunno, never met such a woman. Just you." 

At the disbelieving stare Liz shot her, the Doctor sighed and ran a hand through her hair so that the locks on her left were tucked behind her ear. "The voyage isn't over, y'know. Still a couple more centuries before you can go home. The people will need someone to look after them until that." Turning away from the reflection to look at the woman herself, she went on knowingly, "And unless I miss my guess, I'd say you're not getting any older any time soon."

"Me?" Liz now looked away to stare at her incredulously. "I couldn't even tell them how they survived the solar flares 'cos of what I did. Why would they ever follow me?"

"Well not wearing a mask in public might help." At the suggestion of which she lashed out and snatched the old mask out of Liz's hands to hold snugly in her own, making it very clear to the former monarch that she wouldn't be getting it back any time soon. "No more secrets, Liz."

For a moment, it looked like Liz was about to argue just that, but the Doctor's firm gaze stopped her and so she sighed and backed up, her gaze going back to the mirror. "They'd never forgive me."

"Oh, never say 'never'," the Doctor suddenly chided, face screwing up distastefully at that word, "I used to live by 'never' and was bloody miserable because of it."

"What changed?"

_What indeed?_ And like that the Doctor joined Liz in staring at a face she was still coming to know, seeing a pair of sad lonely brown eyes instead of her new hazel ones stare back.  _Idiot._ Shaking her head at Sandshoes' inability to grasp the impossible, she turned her attention back to the present. Waggling the mask in front of Liz's reflection, she started to back up. "Just trust them, they might surprise you."

"You goin' then?" 

"Probably for the best."

"Shyeah, right." At last Liz snorted with actual mirth rather than the forced stuff she'd been playing since they'd met as she came around to face her. "More like duckin' the paper work. I know how you roll."

Grinning innocently back at her, the Doctor just shrugged before waving again and heading out the way she came, mask in hand. She was just stepping out of the chambers when Liz called her back one last time. "Any last minute advice for a would-be queen who's about to get flogged by her country?"

_Wow, so dramatic._ Honestly she was starting to miss gun-toting, wisecracking Liz. But she'd asked and the Doctor would answer. "Honestly...take the Star Whale's approach. Be patient with them...and kind."

And with those parting words she left the once and future queen to her own thoughts. Passing through the slightly dustier corridors back to the Vator, she punched the button for London and let the lift take her back down to the other person who was wrestling with today's revelations.

London Market still looked much the same as it had been when they'd first arrived, and yet at the same time not the same at all. People were still rushing hither and yon, but there seemed to be a new energy in their step as shopkeepers and customers all ran around chatting away about experiencing a star-quake for the first time in their lives - the maddest theories jumping back and forth between them (the Doctor particularly liked the one involving a giant mutant star goat) - questions on their lips finally being flung around as the Winders set about dismantling the Smiler booths. 

But all of that fell away as she made her way to the giant scenery window at the far end of the Market where her erstwhile companion stood, staring out at the stars. And suddenly they weren't on a ship driven by a giant space creature, but an observation platform, and instead of a cosmic sea there was a single red giant that had once been Sol. It only lasted a moment, but in either version the Doctor found herself standing beside Rose who wore a lost expression on her face.

Deciding to start light, she gently asked "Mandy get home okay?"

Rose just gave her a weak hum, watery eyes not looking away from the beautiful scene outside. Those stars that weren't the usual stars she saw at night, the human race had come all the way out here...and that was amazing...until her gaze dropped down a little to stare at the vessel that had brought them here.

"We did it..." she muttered at last, "left the Earth behind, got to see the universe...an' we did it by hurting someone else."

_Ah._  She'd been expecting this, had been waiting for Rose to say out loud what had been bothering her since she saw what had been done to the Star Whale. There was any number of things the Doctor could say...but for now she held her piece as her companion went on.

"Back home they're all sayin' how amazin' it'll be when we get out here..." For a moment she managed a small whimsical smile "all those ideas, all the big dreams..." the smile dropped away as the reality returned "and instead we do  _this._ It's just..."

_Wrong._ That was the word she was looking for, the Doctor had known it when they'd looked at the ruins of Earth whose passing everyone had missed and she knew it now. She'd wanted to show Rose where the human race was going...and so she got to see just how cruel and cowardly her species could be. It was just wrong.

But maybe now, like then, she could give her some comfort. And so the Doctor offered up her hand.

"Come with me."

For a moment Rose looked at the appendage as if she didn't know what to do with it...and then hesitantly she took hold of it with her own. Smiling sadly, the Doctor gently pulled her away from the starlit view, back through the Market and then onwards back to the TARDIS. Rather than fish out the key, the Doctor merely clicked her fingers and the doors swung open. Once they were in and the doors shut behind them both, she set Rose down in the battered old pilot's seat and began the dematerialisation process.

Once they were in the Vortex, the Doctor flipped off the Randomiser and pondered over what would be the right thing to show her. Once she decided that and input the coordinates - along with a stern order to her ship to take them straight there and nowhere else - she turned around to face Rose, leaning against the console.

"You're right, you know." She started off with. "Humans do have a tendency towards cruelty, as well as cowardice. Always have, always will."

There was a tangent she could get on, all the fires she'd had to put out as a he and all those she had yet to douse, but for Rose she'd hold back. That wasn't the point, anyway, which she would get to in a minute as the TARDIS began Her landing sequence until She gave as calm a  _Thud_ as She could manage. 

Neither Time Lord nor human moved though, the Doctor merely glanced at the readings and sent Her a wave of gratitude then turned back to Rose. "Any time in history, humans do something stupid...but when they do, something else happens as well. Come on."

Again, she gently led Rose along, leading her back out the doors they'd just stepped through. They found themselves in the middle of yet another busy throng much like the one they'd just left, people rushing around one way whilst others went another. But there were differences; instead of quiet there was the hustle and bustle of voices and orders and complaints around every corner, over their heads rather than grey and metal was a blue sky...and behind them...

Rose gasped at the sight of a tall residential tower block scorched black from the top to almost the entirety of the way down. "What's happened? Where are we?"

"North Kensington, London, June 20th, 2017." The Doctor rattled off easily, almost clinically, her eyes also falling on the burned building. "And that is Grenfell Tower. Six days ago a power surge set one of the flats' refrigerators on fire which quickly engulfed almost the whole building, killing seventy-two people and depriving more than two hundred more of their homes."

"But...the cladding." Rose had seen a couple of fires in the Powell Estate which made her curious about what kept the rest of the flats safe, the fireproof cladding should have kept any fires contained but just looking at the tower she couldn't see a shred of that protective layer had survived either.

But the Doctor just shook her head, a mild look of reproach touching her features as she explained. "It was completely useless, it failed every test for fire resistance, and what's worse is there was a type of cladding up for sale that might have prevented the fire from spreading but the people in charge passed on it because it cost more. Apparently, human life comes second to a budget."

Her answer left Rose shocked, she'd heard her mum complaining about any number of problems that their flat had in the past and that them in charge didn't really give a toss but now, hearing the Doctor tell her as well as show her proof...why was she showing her this? Hadn't she seen enough of how stupid the human race was for one day?

Seeing the glum face start to return, the Doctor pushed on. "But that's not why we're here. Look around, notice anything?"

At her question, Rose stopped staring at the burnt out building to look at her in askance but she just nodded at the space around them. Frowning lightly she turned to look at the area to see what exactly was so important. The first thing she noticed was the people milling about, dodging around each other to speak to other people who were in rougher clothing...and then some of what they were saying started to filter through.

'-you alright, love? Need an extra-'

'Got another cuppa? Only my kids'-'

'Focus on the larger families first, they might want-'

The next thing she spotted was what some of those people were wearing; the usual NHS vests were there, but also the ones with 'Volunteer' stamped on the back which accounted for three times the number of the professionals, and then there were those people who weren't wearing vests at all but still doing what they could where they could. And then there were stalls put up along either side of the road and tables set out with food and clothes, most of which were clearly donated from the nearby households. 

"Eventually the government tries to help out, but the people of Kensington turn them away, determined to do it themselves." The Doctor picked up the tale again, a spark of pride in her voice as she watched the humans work their hearts out for each other in the face of tragedy. "You know what this is, Rose? Anarchy, true anarchy, where everyday people come together and help each other through hardship without any hand-holding from a higher power because they just don't need it.

"There will be days of rage in the future, days of blame, and of protest...but for now, today," her pride had turned into full admiration as she turned her gaze back to Rose, a warm smile taking over her face "just for a moment, everyone put blame aside and instead chose to be kind."

Kind? Did that really tip the scales? Rose didn't know if it did, how could she after today? Liz might have eventually freed the Star Whale but she'd only done it after being coaxed into it, if the Doctor hadn't been there she'd have chosen to forget just like every other time she'd learnt the truth. But this...a tower - a home - burned down as a result of government oversight...and yet everyone was banding together...

But would it last? She'd seen this before, something bad happens to some people and the community helps out...for a little while. But then the boss needs you to come in for work or the kids need picking up from school and then suddenly that terrible thing that happened to your neighbour was just that thing on the news last month. This kindness...was it really enough?

The doubt was clear on her face, so clear that it forced the smile off the Doctor's lips in favour of a considering frown as she looked the scene over. The human race, a paradox of consideration and cruelty - right now whilst the people here helped their fellow man, the USA was deporting people from its land for the simple fact that they hadn't been born there and it was only going to get worse so long as that idiot remained in office.

Still though...

"Better than my lot." She found herself saying out loud, a small scowl finding its way onto her face. "They'd never admit to being cruel, but I've yet to see them do anything kind. They're just...ambivalent."

Hearing the oddly bitter tone from a woman who'd seemed mostly positive had Rose looking around at her in mild surprise. The Doctor caught her stare and shrugged. "We have the means to travel through time and space but they would rather treat all of creation like a wild nature documentary than actually do anything meaningful."

_Observe but don't interfere...unless there's somethin' that needs fixin'._ The Doctor's words passed through her mind briefly, odd rule but then again in some odd way after today it made sense to Rose. But the way the Doctor was talking it sounded like she was the only one who did that. Curious, she pressed her, "Your lot? What's that then?"

"Time Lords." She almost spat the name with the same contempt Eyebrows had felt for them after his time in the Confession Dial. "Pretentious louts, the lot of 'em. Hypocrites too. 'Oh no, we're not gonna interfere, except hang on, this lot here might knock us off the top block one day, better get the Doctor to deal with 'em.'"

And hadn't that been a lovely little jaunt to Skaro? She let out a deep huff of derision, raked a hand through her hair, hooking some of it behind her left ear again, and turned back to Rose. "And the end result is I'm out here, travelling by myself, because the rest don't care."

_Well that got real personal, real fast._ Rose suddenly found herself both shaken and saddened for this woman beside her, only a day ago she'd been trying to save the human race from living plastic and an hour ago she was educating the Monarchy on proper treatment of the labour force, running around, travelling through space in that impossible blue box...and she did it alone? 

"There's me." Had she said that? She didn't know if she'd meant to but there it was.

Her offer didn't go unheard as the Doctor looked her over again. This Rose...she wasn't her Rose, still so young, inexperienced, ready to do silly things like nearly get herself killed for doing the right thing - okay she'd never outgrown that - but given time...time...and did she really want her to become that Rose again? A woman who looked into the heart of the TARDIS and broke down the walls of reality just to get back to her? 

_Yes..._ it was a selfish voice, tinged with a Manchester accent but with odd Estuary undertones that had never tried for more and always resented itself for it...but she still had to give her a choice.

"You've seen just a little bit of what your people can be like." She pointed out, "We get back in the TARDIS, I can't promise the next time will be any better. D'you wanna go home?"

Her question brought Rose up short. There was a choice? Didn't the Doctor want her to come with her? But then the rest of her statement hit her and she did find herself wondering. Could she stomach it if the next time she saw something even worse in the human race than just slavery? Lost, she could only sigh and shake her head back. "I dunno...I want..."

Wait...another deep breath through her nose and suddenly she was looking around, following the scent. "D'you smell chips?"

_Chips?_ Sniffing the air herself, the Doctor caught the aroma and any number of memories came rushing back so fast that she couldn't help laughing happily. "Yeah, I do actually."

"I want chips." 

"Gettin' a bit of a craving for them me'self."

"Right then," Rose stated decisively, "'fore you get me back in that box, chips it is and you can pay."

_Me?_ Oh she really did have a lot to teach this new Rose Tyler about travelling with her, as such the Doctor fell back on her standard shrug and unapologetic statement of "No money, empty pockets remember."

"Thought you said you hated empty pockets." Honestly, what sort of date had she reeled in this time? Rolling her eyes with a grin and a head shake, Rose relented. "Alright then, you skint bint, chips're on me. Find us a nice seat, watch the revolution, yeah?"

Oh there it was, the cheeky smirk! With tongue action as well. She couldn't have known that seeing that smile had just made the Doctor's day, the Time Lord in question grinning right back at her as her human linked their arms together and the pair of them strode off.

Deep questions and conversations could wait, for now the only thing that mattered to the Doctor and Rose Tyler was the search for chips. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I say again, using the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower Fire was not something I chose to do lightly, especially due to the fact that it happened last year. 
> 
> I had originally intended to use the 1914 Christmas Ceasefire but changed my mind at the last minute. I felt something more recent and relevant to us was the correct path to take but even then it wasn't easy to decide to do this. 
> 
> So once again, if there are any former residents of Grenfell Tower reading this, if I've gotten it wrong or the events don't match up to what you went through and are still going through, I am truly sorry. 
> 
> Right, we'll have a brief interlude chapter after this, then a jaunt into the past. Question: Which episode? 
> 
> Not going to do Dickens yet, so I wanna know what or who we should run into next. Shakespeare? Christie? Or maybe not a famous person ep? Tell me and I'll see if I can do it. I could use the practise.


	11. Interlude I: Chips

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So like I promised, a quick interlude to let things rest and then we'll get going again.

It didn't take them long to find a chippy (although there was some awkwardness when Rose paid with the out-of-date, all brass pound coin), and after that they perched themselves on a bench to watch the human race in all its decency. The Doctor had initially been a bit on edge as she observed the fried cut potatoes, this was a brand new body after all with all new taste-buds that she didn't understand yet. What if she didn't like chips?

But then she popped one into her mouth and it was all smiles. Gods, how had she gone so long without them? Fifteen hundred years without these fatty cut and fried potatoes? What had her last two selves been thinking? Chips were bliss, warm and salty and wonderful!

She...might have had too much of a happy reaction to the stuff because some people gave them very odd looks as they passed by. Not that Rose was any better, mind, the girl was practically wolfing the things down leaving nought but the newspaper they'd been wrapped in and then made a move on her helping. Valiantly had the Doctor fought off the mad woman but it was no use and soon she was forced to make a hasty retreat back to the TARDIS, the insane chip-sucking Rose Tyler two steps behind.

All in vain however as the girl finally got her hands on the delicious treat and the Doctor could only lament their loss, vowing to do better by their future kin.

And all the while, their vanquisher showed her no pity giggling away at her grief. "C'mon now, I bought 'em, means they're all mine really. Now stop your poutin' and let's go see something else."

"Time Lords don't pout." The Doctor declared not at all tartly, oh no, she was merely expressing her outrage at the loss of her chips to this evil pink and yellow creature. And if she stuck her bottom lip out and crossed her arms firmly over her chest to make her point then that's what she would do, thank you very much!

As for Rose, she just rolled her eyes at the incredibly childish action of a supposedly superior alien race. "If me swipin' 'em's so bad, buy your own next time."

"No cash."

_Yeah, not buyin' that again._ Besides, what were they going to do for money if the next place they went to didn't accept her stuff?

Shaking her head one last time Rose back against the console, anticipation starting to build as her wondering over where they'd end up next started to take hold. "So, c'mon then. We've had chips, where to now?"

"What, no more chips, no more quality time?" She asked back, pulling a comically sad face and drooping her shoulders ever so dramatically. "And here I thought we were getting on so well. I see how it is, you just want my ship."

"Ah! You've sussed me! But I can't help it!" So saying, Rose hugged the nearest strut ever so tenderly and gazed at towards the console with a gaze of pure wanderlust. "Time and space? Aliens and spaceships an' things? How's a girl s'posed to resist?"

"Ey! Mind who flies her!" Seriously! How was she losing out to her meddling time ship? And she wasn't pouting!

A few more minutes of similar acts of torture to the Doctor's ego later, Rose finally relented with a grin and shoved over to lean against the console, this time with real anticipation behind her gaze. "Okay, seriously now, where're we goin' next?"

"Oh, so ready to go flying again are we?"

"Ah, don't act like you don't wanna!" She shot back before the Doctor could start getting her own back, she saw that growing grin there, she wanted to get going just as much.

Seeing that she'd been caught, the Doctor therefore just shrugged and made her way over to the console and started messing with the odd controls, here and there, before finally pulling the handbrake. In response, the TARDIS's takeoff sequence began, shaking them both here and there before levelling out again. One safe check to make sure they were good and the Doctor backed away from the console.

"That was quick." Rose said, mildly surprised at the short hop.

"Eh...yeah," unconsciously she found herself raking her hair again with one hand whilst the other went looking for a sick-encrusted pocket to hide in. "See, we're not actually anywhere just yet. We're in the Vortex."

"The wha'?"

"The Time Vortex." She said again, waving around the room as if that explained it all. "It's what the TARDIS travels through to get places - pure time, all of the What-Ifs and Could-Have-Beens and Might-Have-Happeneds of the universe."

"And we're...what? Parked inside it?"

And like that, the Doctor was back to not-pouting. "Parked?! We're suspended in a state of temporal grace where anything and everything is happening and not happening all at once and  _that's_ what you take from it?" Trust Rose Tyler to make something so majestic - so  _unknowable -_ sound so ruddy boring. But she just continued to fix her that uninterested look with just a hint of teasing and so the Doctor just sighed again and nodded. "Alright, yes, we're parked in it, now can we get to the point?"

"There was a point?" The cheeky thing asked back. "I thought we were goin' places."

"In that get up?" And at last the Doctor saw a flash of realisation cross Rose's face as she turned down to stare at her still-covered-in-Star-Whale-sick clothing. Granted she didn't mind the mess herself, there were certain planets and timezones where such an appearance would be considered the height of provocative fashion, but Rose and most humans would probably think otherwise and so she pressed on, "Gonna make friends with the locals reeking of last week's dinner?"

She liked to think the echoing 'OH MY GOD!' that launched out of her companion's mouth was a statement of agreement.

Horror rocked through Rose's system as she stared at her disgusting state, and only now that she was paying attention did she notice the light stench that was still rolling off of her. She hadn't even thought about any of that, so many other things going on in her head and then the Doctor got talking about her own species and then they got chips and -  _Oh my god, I walked around London like this!_

If her mum'd seen her she'd have gotten a smack and a yelling at for going around like this. Had people noticed? They had to have noticed. Why hadn't anyone said anything? And on that thought she raised a furiously flustered glare on the other equally messy woman. "Why didn't you say anything?!"

The Doctor just shrugged "Didn't think it was that important."

Probably the wrong thing to say if the growing glare on Rose's face was anything to go by, she looked like she was about to blow steam out her ears, but she had stolen her chips so that made them even...well, not quite.

"By the way," pulling a slip of paper out of her pocket she came around and handed it to her, "a lovely lady in the queue handed me this to give to you, very nice shirt she had, all colours..."

_Do I bloody care what some stranger in the chippy wrote to her? I'm covered in sick!_ All the same she snatched the paper out of the Doctor's hand and flicked it open, the sooner she got her 'ha-ha's out of the way the sooner she could stick her head in a pillow and scream. That all came to a halt though when she read what was written on the slip.

_'First ones are always the hardest. Free on Tuesdays and Fridays if you need some alone time ;) ;).'_

There then followed a name and phone number but Rose was stuck on the underlying message to really notice. The writer, whoever they were, thought she had a kid. Why would they think...and then she remembered the state she was in - clothes covered in sick and a slightly messy hairdo, she'd seen any number of mums on the estate like that, her own included - what other conclusion were onlookers supposed to come to besides the obvious one?

But then the rest of it clicked and she felt her face flame up for a whole different reason, 'cos she wasn't the only one covered in sick now was she? The Doctor was just as bad and the writer was clearly suggesting...

"Oh..."

"A-huh." The Doctor couldn't help a little laugh, hands in pockets, bouncing off the balls of her feet as Rose's cheeks suddenly turned a very enjoyable pink.

"They thought we were..."

"Yup."

"...Right."

The flaring went even further from pink to burning red and Rose buried her face in one of her hands. So not only had she been mistaken for a mum dealing with her first kid but also that the Doctor was her...what? Girlfriend? Wife? Not that she had a problem with that, she'd backed Mook and Patrique's mutual interest in each other just a much as she and Mickey had supported Sally when she got her operation to become an actual she, but thinking of herself like that...

As she watched the evil chip thief blush even harder, the Doctor finally decided it was time to show mercy...after another good laugh at her expense of course which earned her a sharp order to shut up.

"Anyway," she finally said, "you might want to change out of those clothes into something, well  _anything_ else. There's a wardrobe through there," she pointed over Rose's shoulder to one of the corridors branching out of the console room, "first left, second right, third on the left, go straight ahead, under the stairs, past the bins, first door on your left."

And she'd confused her, brilliant. Now they were even.

"Go on then, hurry up!"

Flummoxed as she was, the promise of clean clothes won out over stupid directions and Rose dashed off towards the indicated corridor. At the very least she might be able to find a shower (did the Doctor's people even have showers?) and so she might at least feel cleaner in that regard. Now which right was it again?

The Doctor waited until she couldn't see Rose anymore, silently entreated the TARDIS to show her to one of the many bathrooms - or a shower if that's what she needed - and headed off to make her own changes.

Wandering through the next corridor on the left took her straight to her old room which upon entering was still in the style of old Sir Grumpy himself - spartan and, even though he'd barely ever used it, incredibly dirty. Making a note to get a new room she made her way over to her personal wardrobe, hoping that the Old Girl had at least seen sense to swap in some decent clothing, and started tossing her ruined outfit on the floor.

"Seriously?!" Was her reaction when she pulled open the wardrobe to find that apparently no, the TARDIS had not put something sensible for her to wear - just multiple copies of old styles. "If you're tryin' to make a point, Love, please just say it!"

How were any of these old things supposed to look good on her? She'd already tried out Eyebrows' look and that had gone screwy, only the boots had survived. What next? Was she going to put that old pinstripes look back on only to get mud all over it? Nope, not happening. But for whatever reason, the silly old nag was only letting her choose old stuff and so she went for as practical as possible.

When she finally left her room she was dressed in something old Floppy would've loved: Black, slim-fitting trousers held up with red suspenders (which she found she didn't mind too much) and a checkered dress shirt. She'd taken one look at the tweed jacket though and had flared her nostrils in disgust and didn't even waste a second glance at the red bow tie.

It would have to do, though the sonic chafed something awful in her left trouser pocket.  _I need a new coat._ _No chance of Her giving me one though._

Whatever was going on with her TARDIS, the Doctor was determined not to let Her keep dressing her up like this.  _I swear, if this happens again I'm just gonna go to the nearest charity shop and work it out from there._

She...might have broadcast that a bit too strongly if the offended shudder she got back was anything to go by but it was Her fault! Why did She seem to think that she couldn't dress herself?

Putting silly sensitive Time Ships to one side for a moment, the Doctor made her way back to the console room and started flicking a few random switches trying to remember what each of them did. They'd done the future, now it was time to look into the past and she'd rather get the flight right on the first try instead of landing half a millennium off from where they should be (Clara had never let that one go), but all these controls...they just didn't make sense to her.

Why a bicycle pump? Seriously, what sort of state had the TARDIS been in when She designed this desktop anyway? And the green glow! All wrong, completely clashed with her complexion! And no stabiliser switches for her to ignore! What was the point in having a system if you didn't have the ability to not believe it even existed?!

Such thoughts and more left her more certain than ever that the TARDIS needed an overhaul at the next most convenient time when something wasn't trying to eat them. It need levers and spinney things...and maybe something that dispensed biscuits, she really liked biscuits this time it seemed.

"We good to go?"

"Wha?!" The voice behind her had her jumping around to face Rose who had somehow teleported right behind her. "Where'd you come from?!"

"The corridor." She pointed back at the aforementioned path she'd headed down earlier. "Stopped an' had a shower first and..." here she trailed off as that amazing experience washed back over her, "wherever you nicked that one, don't ever give it back."

_Oh?_ Curious the Doctor posed a query to the TARDIS who sent back an image of a massive golden walled bathroom with a fittingly large shower to match, capable of easily fitting four people and with two hundred settings, most of which she still didn't know what they did.  _'The Forty First Century Model 360-S? I didn't know that one was still knocking about. Not fair, Love!'_

She just got a defiantly innocent hum for her troubles to which she mentally rolled her eyes. Well at least Rose had liked it, if the relaxed glow coming off of her was anything to go by. And she'd found new clothes too. Blue jeans, not as baggy as the last, along with a white shirt underneath a red hoodie. Very Rose Tyler. 

"Good." She muttered, looking her over. "Very good, very sensible." And very clearly from the main wardrobe where there had only been gowns when she'd looked. "Very...good."

_'What, so I'm not allowed nice things? Is that it?'_ She got no response from the clearly and unfairly biased ship. 

"Right!" She said out loud, leading Rose around the console and putting her hand on one of the many levers and pulled it down. "Do me a favour and hold that down."

"Okay..." Rose wasn't quite sure what that was supposed to do or why the Doctor needed her to fly the ship, why would she need help with her own motor? "What's this do?"

"Something." 

"Somethin'?"

"Well I dunno what all these things do." The Doctor said defensively, honestly why did everyone expect her to know everything about everything? Shaking her head she just dashed back around to the other side of the console and started mashing buttons and twisting her own knobs. "Just hold that one down and..." peering over she pointed at another lever "that one as well, and we'll see what happens."

"Lovin' the confidence there."

"Oi! You want a time machine or not?" Not letting her cheeky human respond, the Doctor flicked on the Randomiser and dropped the handbrake.

The rotor within the column began to rise and fall, followed by the usual shakes as the state of temporal grace was lost sending the TARDIS into immediate freefall through the Time Vortex. Destination: Anywhere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the interlude is done. Really just wanted to get them into some new clothes...that sounds so much worse than what I actually meant. And yep, the TARDIS is still messing with the Doctor. For those wondering when I'll be putting her in her 'proper' Thirteenth ensemble, that's still an adventure or two away so just hold on.
> 
> And that bit about Mook and Patrique wasn't a creation on my part, that is actually true. In the novelised version of 'Rose' it mentions that Mickey used to be part of a garage band who had a transgender woman as well as two men, Mook and Patrique, who like each other. And the kicker, of course the band was called Bad Wolf...cos why not?


End file.
